The Pacific Northwest is known as the home of grunge rock, rainy days, Microsoft, and now is making a name for itself as a hotbed of biodiesel activity. Once the domain of fringe ecological activists, biodiesel is increasingly becoming available from certified commercial sources, and is rapidly gaining acceptance among businesses wanting to make a positive statement with their customers and community.
The Essential Baking Company, one of the premier organic artisan bakeries in the Northwest, decided to adopt biodiesel around the same time it changed out the company fleet. Melanie Bonadore, fleet manager for Essential, said the change coincided relatively seamlessly with the fleet replacement. "We had an older, gas-powered fleet, and we wanted to update our trucks. Our move from gasoline to diesel provided a definite economic benefit, with the better mileage provided by diesel vehicles," she said.
Although there was a cost premium associated with running biodiesel, the company decided the extra cost was worth it to make a statement and to align with the company's core values.
"This initiative mainly came from a standpoint of the Essential Baking Company sticking to its core philosophy of social consciousness, sustainability, and organic bread. That was the initial motivation. It was very consistent with our image. From a fuel standpoint, we wanted to support local producers rather than sending our petroleum dollars overseas. Obviously, we're paying a premium using biodiesel over conventional diesel fuel," Peter Miller, CEO of Essential Baking, said, "but our customers almost expect it from us, and the feedback has been very positive."
Because of its mysterious, and somewhat home-brewed reputation, the leasing company that Essential purchased its trucks from was less than enthusiastic at first about the idea of running B99 (diesel fuel that is derived from a 99 percent biomass base) in the trucks. "Peter really hammered home that we wanted to go biodiesel. The leasing company was a little hesitant at first about warranty and maintenance issues, but we were creative with the contract, and eventually they agreed to it," Bonadore said. No major modifications to the trucks were needed to run the fuel. As a precautionary measure, the fuel filters on the first few trucks were changed after the first full tank of biodiesel, but because the vehicles are so new, there's not as much of a concern over petrodiesel residue buildup, and subsequent trucks went straight into service running B99.
The company feels confident about the long-term reliability of its fleet, because it uses commercial-grade biodiesel, rather than home-brewed small batches. The size and use of the fleet almost mandated this. "Altogether, our trucks drive thousands of miles every week. With this scale, we needed the dependability of a commercial biodiesel source. We also had a substantial investment in the fleet, and we wanted to minimize the downtime, so the quality of the fuel was paramount. In an ideal world, it would be great if we could produce our own fuel, but we don't have the time, resources, or expertise to do that right now," Miller said. He added that the company contacted other companies running fleet vehicles on biodiesel to make sure they knew what they were getting into. "It was nice to get some reassurance from other companies that it was viable and that it worked," he said.
Essential prides itself on being in the vanguard of socially responsible businesses and hopes that others will follow suit. "When we started the bakery in 1994, we were one of the first bakeries to go organic," Bonadore said. "Now it's quite common. We're hoping that the same thing will happen with companies using biodiesel."