Singer starts business that aims to get truckers on board

This poster is on a billboard alerting truckers to a biodiesel option on Interstate 35 near Hillsboro, Texas.

By Matt Curry

Updated: 3:57 p.m. ET Jan. 14, 2005

DALLAS - “On the Road Again” means something new for Willie Nelson these days — a chance for truckers to fill their tanks with clean-burning biodiesel fuel.

Nelson and three business partners recently formed a company called Willie Nelson’s Biodiesel that is marketing the fuel to truck stops. The fuel, called BioWillie, is made from vegetable oils, mainly soybeans, and can be burned without modification to diesel engines.

It may be difficult to picture the 71-year-old hair-braided Texas rebel as an energy company executive, but the singer’s new gig is in many ways about social responsibility — and that is classic Nelson.

“There is really no need going around starting wars over oil. We have it here at home. We have the necessary product, the farmers can grow it,” said Nelson, who organized Farm Aid two decades ago to draw attention to the plight of American agriculture.

Nelson said he began learning about the product a few years ago after his wife purchased a biodiesel-burning car in Hawaii, where the star has a home.

“I got on the computer and punched in biodiesel and found out this could be the future,” said Nelson, who now uses the fuel for his cars and tour buses.

Partnership at the pump

Peter Bell, a Texas biodiesel supplier, struck up a friendship with Nelson after filling up one of the tour buses, and the business partnership came together just before Christmas

Bell said Nelson’s name will help the largely unknown fuel — typically purchased by government agencies to promote environmental awareness — gain wider national acceptance. The fuel’s average U.S. price per gallon is $1.79.

“What Willie brings to this is the ability to communicate directly with a truck driver. That kind of community is hard for people to get to,” Bell said. “When he starts talking, these folks really listen to him. ... It’s like having Tiger Woods talk about golf clubs.”

Still, a driver can cover many miles without spotting a biodiesel pump. A map on the National Biodiesel Board’s Web site shows a heavy concentration of distributors in the Midwest, but very few in other parts of the country

Potential and obstacles

Nelson’s group is currently negotiating with Oklahoma City-based Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores to carry the fuel at its 169 locations nationwide.

Dan Gilligan, president of the Petroleum Marketers Association of America, expects commercial expansion for biodiesel, but says that supplies are still limited and that making the fuel available in northern states is a challenge.

“For terminals to store biodiesel, they have to store it in heated tanks to avoid gelling problems. That’s a challenge for the industry to overcome,” he said.

Background on Willie Nelson's Biodiesel is online at www.wnbiodiesel.com.

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The main benefit derived from using Biodiesel comes from the reduction in emissions generated when using this biodegradable, low toxicity fuel. These emission benefits are gained all the while you are using a fuel that is made from a fully renewable energy source, grown right here in the USA.

Biodiesel reduces carbon dioxide exhaust emissions by up to 80%.

Biodiesel produces 100% less sulfur dioxide than petroleum based diesel, and sulfur dioxide is the major component of acid rain.

Biodiesel reduces exhaust smoke (particulates) emissions by up to 75% so the usual black cloud associated with a diesel engine can be eliminated.

The smell of the biodiesel exhaust is far more pleasant than petroleum based diesel, some times smelling like pop corn or doughnuts if the fuel is made from a waste vegetable oil feedstock.

Biodiesel smells better than diesel fuel so it is a pleasant experience re-filling the vehicle's tank.

Biodiesel is much easier to handle and does not require mechanics to use barrier cream on their hands to protect the skin from cracking or redness.

Biodiesel is much less dangerous to put in a vehicles fuel tank as the flash point of biodiesel is ± 150°C (300°F) as opposed to petroleum diesel

which is at ± 70°C (150°F).

Biodiesel degrades about 4 times faster than petroleum diesel after spillage, with most of a spill broken down after just 28 days.

Biodiesel provides significant lubricity improvement over petroleum diesel fuel so engines last longer, with the right additives engine performance

can also be enhanced.

Low Sulfur and Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel require additives to add the lubricity back into the fuel, biodiesel is a totally renewable additive for this role

and complements the use of ULSD.

Biodiesel reduces the classic diesel engine "knocking" noise.

Biodiesel does not require any changes to the existing storage infrastructure so can be used in any tank or storage facility right away.

Biodiesel can be mixed in with existing diesel to create various mixtures like a B5 or B20 blend.

A diesel engined vehicle does not need to be modified in anyway to use biodiesel.