Save Biodiesel!

2007.5 and newer light duty diesel vehicles are not biodiesel compatible! Problems have occurred in these vehicles using biodiesel in any blend, from B5 to B100. This is shocking news for everyone involved in the biodiesel community, including producers, retailers and their customers, city fleets that use biodiesel, and all diesel drivers in cities that have B5 or B20 mandates. If not addressed, new vehicle incompatibility will increasingly cripple the viability of biodiesel as a cleaner-burning and renewable diesel fuel alternative.

We must tell the vehicle manufacturers: new diesels must be made biodiesel-compatible!

Please visit SaveBiodiesel.org to learn more about this important issue.

This petition will be sent to the following recipients: Volkswagen, GM/Chevrolet, Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep, Mercedes Benz, Cummins, International, Ford Motor Company, Honda, Subaru. Carbon copies will also be sent to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board (CARB), who are jointly responsible for setting emissions standards in the United States.

This petition additionally urges the OEMs to not differentiate in their factory warranty policies between ULSD and ASTM-certified biodiesel in any blend.

2007.5 and newer light duty diesel vehicles are not biodiesel compatible! Problems have occurred in these vehicles using biodiesel in any blend, from B5 to B100. This is shocking news for everyone involved in the biodiesel community, including producers, retailers and their customers, city fleets that use biodiesel, and all diesel drivers in cities that have B5 or B20 mandates. If not addressed, new vehicle incompatibility will increasingly cripple the viability of biodiesel as a cleaner-burning and renewable diesel fuel alternative.

We must tell the vehicle manufacturers: new diesels must be made biodiesel-compatible!

Please visit SaveBiodiesel.org to learn more about this important issue.

This petition will be sent to the following recipients: Volkswagen, GM/Chevrolet, Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep, Mercedes Benz, Cummins, International, Ford Motor Company, Honda, Subaru. Carbon copies will also be sent to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board (CARB), who are jointly responsible for setting emissions standards in the United States.

This petition additionally urges the OEMs to not differentiate in their factory warranty policies between ULSD and ASTM-certified biodiesel in any blend.

    We the undersigned believe that it is crucial that all new diesel vehicles sold in North America be compatible with biodiesel in all blends, from B5 to B100. We urge your company to ensure that all new diesel vehicles you sell be fully biodiesel compatible. We further urge that all future factory warranty policies issued for your diesel vehicles do not differentiate between ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) and ASTM-certified biodiesel in any blend.
    Biodiesel is a cleaner-burning, renewable diesel fuel alternative. Because its emissions are much lower than petroleum diesel, biodiesel blends are increasingly popular worldwide for its environmental and air quality benefits. Biodiesel can be made from a variety of different oil feedstocks, and is a domestic and renewable energy source. It has been shown to reduce long-term engine wear relative to ULSD, due to its superior lubricity. Biodiesel is also safer to handle, store, and transport than petroleum diesel, because it is biodegradable, nontoxic and non-flammable.
    Biodiesel blends are now available at retail pumps in almost every state. From 2001 to 2006, biodiesel sales nationally grew from 5 million to 250 million gallons-- nearly 5000% growth in five years. A number of states and cities have already passed biodiesel blend mandates, including Pennyslvania, Minnesota, and Portland, Oregon. All diesel fleet vehicles in the city of San Francisco use a 20% biodiesel blend. Biodiesel is strongly supported by the Obama administration. The coming years will see more cities and states following suit with biodiesel mandates as part of the solution to concerns about global warming, energy independence, and urban air pollution.
    Biodiesel can be used in any diesel engine in its base operating mode with no modification necessary, as biodiesel's combustion properties are very similar to conventional diesel. Unfortunately, biodiesel has found to be not compatible with post-combustion injection systems that have been used by most OEMs since 2007 for regeneration of the diesel particulate filter. Because biodiesel has a higher flashpoint than petroleum based diesel, it does not always fully vaporize during this process, and some droplets can remain in the cylinder in liquid form. That unburned fuel adheres to the cylinder walls and makes its way past the piston rings into the crankcase, causing engine oil dilution. This engine oil contamination causes problems in two different ways. First, if too much contamination accumulates in the oil, the crankcase can become overfilled, causing catastrophic engine damage. Secondly, even mild oil dilution may lead to increased engine wear, due to chemical reactions taking place between biodiesel and engine oil additives.
    We urge you to make it a priority to use only biodiesel-compatible emissions systems in all of your new diesel vehicles, and if applicable, to find a way to retrofit your existing diesel vehicles with a new DPF-regeneration system that does not use post-combustion injection. Exhaust stream injection is one possible solution that would allow DPF regenration without the risk of engine oil contamination.
    Due to the increasing popularity of biodiesel, and biodiesel mandates being legislated around the country, your future diesel vehicle sales depend on your ability to make those vehicles fully biodiesel-compatible.
    Again, we urge you to make biodiesel compatibility a top priority in your emissions and injection system designs. Further, we urge your company to not differentiate between biodiesel and ULSD in your factory warranty policies.