I've Gone Biodiesel

Bill and I have been getting along for about a year with one car and my motorcycle (by choice) but recently we have had to rent a second car on a regular basis. So it was time to buy. We knew that the next car would be either a hybrid or a diesel, but had not decided.

We were leaning toward a Prius hybrid (I am sorry if I offend anyone, but any other hybrid is not a valid hybrid - getting 28mpg instead of 24mpg is not good enough).

We test drove the Prius and then test drove a few VW diesels. We went with the VW Jetta Wagon TDI. Overall, it is better for the environment than even the Prius if we use biodiesel. Luckily, here in Seattle we have a lot of options for buying biodiesel (the good stuff too, B99 or B100). And my wagon should get 45mpg, too, so that is doubly good.

In case you are thinking biodiesel, here are a few interesting sites I found that help you determine if you have enough biodiesel stations nearby to make the transition work (although you can always fill with regular diesel in a pinch):

Biodiesel.org

Nearbio.com

FindbioDiesel.org

BioDieselAmerica.org

US Dept of Energy

And there are more. It is important to look at more than one locater because they all may show different stations and update at different times.

Now, if I could just get someone to help me convert Hazel (my motorcycle) to biodiesel....