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  Biodiesel in East Tennessee Biodiesel is the strongest alternative fuel in East Tennessee, in terms of current and potential growth. The main reason for that is all the great partners that have come on-board to help us supply biodiesel to customers, including McNutt Oil, Calloway Oil, Benton Oil, Tri-Cities Petroleum, Regal Fuels and now five(!) farmers co-ops (Bradley-Bledsoe, Hawkins, Washington, Greene and Blount-Greenback). Another big reason are groups that are working to begin producing biodiesel in East Tennessee including Northington Energy in Morgan County and SunsOil in Polk County (several others looking at the possibility right now). Certainly last but not least are all the groups that are either now using or are moving toward using biodiesel (see list below)!
In discussing biodiesel use in the community, you need to start with Mark Downing and TransTech Volvo/BMW. Although only fueling two vehicles with biodiesel, Mark has been a part of the ETCFC meetings since 2002 and began fueling his 1984 Volvo wagon with B20 with a low-NOx additive in April 2003. Until about November 2003, he used about 500 gallons of B100 to run his Volvo. In that time, he recognized an almost 20% increase in fuel efficiency dues to the biodiesel and additive. On Friday, March 12, 2004, several Blount County entities began a biodiesel (as B20) trial test. Due to Tommy Hunt and Calloway Oil's proactiveness, they cleaned, moved and painted a Kerosene tank and placed it at their offices off of Broadway in Maryville. The fleets for the cities of Alcoa and Maryville and the Blount County Hwy Dept. each filled up 1-2 vehicles that day as a start to testing B20 (with a low-NOx additive) in their fleets. They've been filling up those vehicles since and moved their entire fleets over to biodiesel blends during the October-December 2005 timeframe. On the 19th of March 2004, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park received their first delivery of B20 for use in their diesel equipment. They plan to expand to get the Cades Coves diesel vehicles starting soon. On Thursday, June 3, 2004, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area took delivery of their tank-full of biodiesel (as B20). Superintendant Reed Detring championed this and is helping the ETCFC break into Scott County.  In addition, most of the government fleets in Sevier and Blount Counties have moved to using biodiesel blends. The cities of Sevierville, Gatlinburg, Maryville and Alcoa and the Blount County Highway Department have all made steps to begin the use of B20. This is a hotbed of activity! Certainly last but not least, McNutt Oil of Maryville has opened three public biodiesel stations! They are listed above (their brand is "Mr. Gas"), and are just ramping-up in developing customers in their communities. Some of those listed in the biodiesel users box at left are getting their fuel from the Mr. Gas locations. Expect to hear about more public B20 stations opening in the very near future! With the onset of December 2005, we have just surpassed 50 fleets in East Tennessee using biodiesel! It's an achievement that only a dedicated team could mount... many thanks to all those fleets that have helped the region develop the fuel to this extent. Now if we just get production going here, we will have made significant progress in a short period of time. Miles to go before we sleep... miles to go before we sleep. The Biodiesel Brigade The Biodiesel Brigade is a group of community citizens that are 1) using biodiesel, but perhaps more importantly right now, they are 2) displaying their usage of biodiesel by placing one of our "Clean Burn" magnets on their vehicles. You can see who the members of the "Biodiesel Brigade" are by visiting our Biodiesel Brigade page. Additionally, if you are using biodiesel in your vehicle or equipment and want to be a member of the Brigade, then just email Jonathan Overly at [email protected] and let him know what you are doing, and we'll get some magnets to you!
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