This is kind of old news around here but I thought some on the forum might find it intersting... the city of Portland has mandated that all stations sell a minimum biodiesel blend of B5 (currently in effect). By 2010 the ratio increases to a minimum of B20.

http://www.portlandonline.com/BDS/index.cfm?c=44630

http://www.portlandonline.com/BDS/index.cfm?c=43886

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1985 MBZ 300DT
1969 MBZ 220d
1984 MBZ 300TDT
1981 VW Vanagon

Let's hope the idea spreads south.

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

wow, in actuality the mandate states that all FUEL sold in the city contain renewable source fuel. 5% for diesel and 10% for gasoline... not just that the stations carry it, but they carry ONLY biofuels... wow indeed.

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

WOW! Now that will get us off using foreign oil. B5 is a joke, it`s a
start though. but that is only 5 gallons in a 100 gal of Diesel.

We have a station that was selling B99 a little over a yr and half ago.
then a couple months ago, they were only selling Diesel. no Bio Diesel.

went in a few days ago to fill up and they are now selling B5. they said
the state wouldn`t allow them to sell the B99 because the tanks and
pumps arent certified for the B99. because the Bio is a solvent and or
corosive.
They are trying to be certified to sell B20. but that`s up in the air so
far. well see.

there is a station on the other side of town that has above ground tanks
for the B99. I`ll have to go check it out.

I really wondering if it is really the state of ca. or the oil companys that
are causing the problems?

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
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Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

I wonder how this will effect drivers of vehicles that can't run blends higher than 5% by manufacturer's specs?

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'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.

Great, they are trying to do the same cr@p already being done with ethanol by forcing it down the public's tanks.

It should be optional, forcing people to use it is never good.

100% agree with ForcedInduction. Should be choice.
Minnesota has been forcing B10 for about a year now.

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"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"
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OBK member#16
77 300D
75 300D (rusty parts car)
73 220D (Dad's)
98 Jeep Grand Cherokee
82 Kawasaki M1

One question how are all the trucks/engine suppliers gonna do? most makers only specify 5% useage with some having issues with 2007+ using anything over b5+ i read the new dodge cummins engine kicks a check engine light thinks the cat converter is full etc..

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2004 Infiniti G35 3.5L 6mt Coupe 73K miles 25.6mpg ytd
2001 Green Audi TT 225 AWD Roadster 71K 6sp 30.9mpg >>STOLEN<<
1982 300D Turbo 231K 120hp? 28.1mpg YTD

If you look closer at the mandate, it states that if the retailers carry B20 or greater, they may also sell dino diesel (see 'exemptions'). Looks like the ethanol requirement has no such exemption.

Most stations around here haven't provided an ethanol choice in the winter... I'm not sure if this is an environmental law or not. Personally, I'm not a big ethanol fan as I feel the corn -> ethanol conversion efficiency is too poor... not the case with biodiesel.

B5 may not sound like much of a blend, but this is actually a big step toward renewable fuels (relative to where we are now).

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1985 MBZ 300DT
1969 MBZ 220d
1984 MBZ 300TDT
1981 VW Vanagon

I think it could be a good thing.I think that if you dont force peeps to change, some of them wont pull their heads out of the sand long enough to see what's happening to our planet.

as far as manufacturer's- I think that the feds ULSD thing was a bag o' *(^&
to appease certain peeps. I think that states should take the lead on this one, because the fed's wont. If more states require more bio, the manufacturers will have to certify their cars or loose the market.




- one thing- MN has mandatory B2, not B10. B10 prolly wouldn't survive the winters here. last winter, they repealed the law for a bit so refineries could tweak the blends.

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1984 123.193 372,xxx miles, room for Seven.

1999 Dodge Durango Cummins 4BTAA 47RE 5k lb 4x4 getting 25+mpgs, room for Seven.

I have to agree with the sentiment of not forcing ethanol from corn as a mandatory solution. It's just too expensive to produce. We would do better to allow higher Bio-diesel blends, and also promote more diesel light trucks and cars. B5 as a minimum is fine, but I'm not sure I would want to force more. B5 actually improves air quality greatly over #2.

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87 300SDL - 215K Miles !!
99 F-350CC Dually PSD - 190K
86 300SDL - 189K
All on B-100

Don't forget, this mandate only applies in the city limits of Portland. If you don't want B#, you must buy fuel outside the city.

However, I too really wonder what is going to happen over the warranty issues. I want to believe that it will force the car companies to cover higher than B5 under warranty.. but I'm too much of a pessimist and realist to believe that well funded, connected and entrenched corporations can be forced to do anything for their customers that they don't want to by mere municipalities.

It is a law. The state mandates that oxygenated gasoline be sold during winter, and has for about 10 years now. Oxygenated can mean many things, but typically it means alcohol is added to the gasoline. I don't know what the equivalent percentage is, but I'm sure its not high.. just enough to take the edge off the emissions.

It is Portland's way of promoting biofuels. The different levels are triggered by biofuels production from production plants in the state of Oregon. A large plant recently came online, triggering the B5 level. More are already under construction, which will trigger the higher levels. A lot of this was probably pushed by Portalnd city's Peak Oil council (one of the few cities to have one).

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