Next time you smell French fries or fried chicken, the odor may be coming from an exhaust pipe.
Bio-diesel, a natural fuel generally made from soybeans, is growing in popularity.
Nationwide, use of the biodegradable fuel has grown from a few hundred thousand gallons a year in the early 1990s to over 25 million gallons last year.
And the state's first biodiesel Storage terminal has just opened in North Stratford ready to supply fuel across New Hampshire.
NHPR Correspondent Dianne Finch has the story.
AMBI 1: Crowd clapping
NAR: It?s not often you hear environmentalists applaud an oil company executive.
But that?s exactly what happened last week in Antrim.
John Rymes, of Rymes Propane and Oils, announced the opening of biodiesel pumps at his company?s filling stations in Antrim, Peterborough, Keene, Greenfield and Loudon.
ACT1 RYMES1: ?In a nut shell we decided as a company that we?d like to do something that A, we could profit at eventually hopefully, and B, we could help the the environment.
NAR: And he says that small, family-run companies are setting the trend toward cleaner, home-grown fuels.
ACT3 RYMES2: ?The people at the forefront are the small local people, not the large oil companies, or the multinationals or large conglomerates. Its? people like you and I, people who want to help the environment and start a small business.?
NAR: Michael Walls, Assistant Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Services, says increased use of biodiesel should help clear New Hampshire's air.
The more biodiesel burned in New Hampshire -- the less petroleum?-- and the less air pollution.
ACT5Walls1: Over time the air will be cleaner- and that will be measured in health effects, public health effects, less asthma probably and less respiratory events at hospitals?
NAR: Boosters claim pure biodiesel, called B100, reduces greenhouse gasses, carbon monoxide and particulates by as much as 80 percent.
Trouble is, it gels-up in freezing temperatures.
To solve that problem, Rymes sells a 20-80 mix of bio and petro-diesel at the pumps, called B20.
AMBI 2: patrons chatter in line
Keene has been using B20 for two years in all 70 of its diesel vehicles.
Steve Russell, Keene?s Fleet Services Superintendent, was first in line to fill up at the new pump with B20 - offered free on opening day:
AMBI 3: Engine sound throughout Russel?s actualities - up volume under ACT8.
AMBI 4: ?Give it a second to settle?.? (then into actuality)
ACT8Russell-1: We use it in the ambulances, firetrucks, backhoes, wheel loaders and the little sidewalk tractors that run up and down main street to clear snow in the winter.?
(KEEP ENG SOUND AMBI 3 UNDER ACT 8)
NAR: Prices, however are still relatively high. B20 sells for about $1.94 per gallon at the pump.
But Walls, at the DES, predicts prices will drop as production increases.
ACT9 WALLS3: ?The importance of Rymes getting into this business is that the more volume of the production they can sell, it will lower the price and not only make the product more readily available not only to fleet owners like the city of Keene, but to private automobile owners.?
NAR: And Rymes hopes to see local farmers grow the beans...
ACT10 RYMES3: ?You know if we can produce this product here in the northeast or in New England or New Hampshire - certainly the tranportation costs are taken out of it as well as the other costs that are incurred.
NAR: Truck fleets, cities, schools and public utility companies across the nation are increasingly turning to biodiesel,
But only 2 percent of the country's cars are diesel powered. ?
That compares with nearly half in Europe.
Becky Ohler, an air quality engineer with DES, says that by 2006, diesel cars may begin to move mainstream.
ACT11 BO-1: ?I think we are going to see more diesel vehicles for sale especially starting about 2006. We will have more of the light duty vehicles that are going to be coming in. They also will be meeting more stringent emissions standards starting with the 2006 model year - which will be nice to combine that with with the biodiesel.?
NAR: The biodiesel market spurred to 25 million gallons in the late 1990s as a result of the 1992 Energy Policy Act, or EPACT.
That law mandated use of alternative fuels by federal and state fleets.
The Bush Administration has cancelled The next phases of EPACT, which would have targeted municipal and private fleets.
However,_Congress has just passed federal tax incentives for companies that blend biodiesel.
AND In New Hampshire, lawmakers are currently considering an 18 cent tax break on the clean fuel.
For NHPR News, this is Dianne Finch.
With all this biodiesel production, there is a huge problem. I run my car on svo, Recently my main sources have told me that they are giving it to a new company to make biodiesel. This is extremely frustrating to all the people that keep it on a small scale and are trying to do their part. What people don't understand is that it's not just eco friendly or free but it's a hobby to many of us.I know this is all about good intentions but PLEASE don't take all the oil.