Nixa man creates biodiesel contraption

The Nixa man recently started building processors that convert waste vegetable oil into biodiesel fuel after watching an episode of “Truck!” on Spike, a cable network aimed at young men.

The show, which aired last fall, instructed viewers how to make biodiesel fuel at home, so Pinegar gave it a shot. Eight months later, his company – All American BioDiesel – has sold more than 40 of the units on eBay at more than $1,000 a pop.

A home builder by trade, Pinegar thought he could market the fuel to various subcontractors who rely heavily on diesel-powered equipment and vehicles. But he quickly realized the market for biodiesel fuel, which costs about 75 cents a gallon to make, spanned the entire country.

“I was very surprised to see the spectrum of people interested in making biodiesel,” Pinegar said. “It’s a definite reaction to gas prices and not having any say in the matter.”

Pinegar was initially interested in building a processor and selling the fuel, but a bevy of tax ramifications caused him to reconsider. Instead, he decided to build the processors individually and sell them on eBay.

Pinegar purchases many of the plumbing components for the contraptions at Nixa Hardware, which is co-owned by his father-in-law, Larry McCroskey. He orders the tanks from Iowa and does business with a variety of other vendors to obtain the necessary parts.

All American BioDiesel offers two different models: the Elite for $1,259 and the Economy for $1,100. The Elite has brass valves, a pre-heater and a pre-filter – features that Pinegar said will lengthen the unit’s lifespan.

The processors convert waste oil into fuel through a chemical reaction that involves methanol and lye, Pinegar said. The process takes between three and four hours, and the ratio of oil to biodiesel fuel is 1-to-1.

“Forty gallons of vegetable oil should yield forty gallons of biodiesel,” he said.

Ingredients needed to start the reaction must be weighed out to a tenth of a gram, said Pinegar, who provides customers with detailed instructions.

Nick Trail of Marysville, Wash., said be botched his first two batches of biodiesel because he misread the directions for his Elite processor.

“That was our own mistake,” said Trail, who also learned about biodiesel from the show on Spike. “You just got to make sure everything is right on the money.”

Trail said he searched for biodiesel processors on eBay and settled on Pinegar’s because of its reasonable price.

Trail and his friend are hoping their third attempt to make biodiesel works. They both own diesel trucks, and Trail’s vehicles get about 14 miles to the gallon in the city. That adds up when the going rate for diesel gas is $3.20 per gallon.

Units are fully assembled and usually ship within a matter of days. A Web site is under development with more information about Pinegar’s biodiesel products at www.allamericanbiofuels.com.

Big-time Biodiesel

The estimated sales volume of biodiesel in 2005 in the United States was 75 million gallons, up from 500,000 gallons in 1999. According to the National Biodiesel Board in Jefferson City, sales are on pace to double in 2006.