Published: February 25, 2007 05:39 pm      

Evolution Biodiesel helping the environment

Deep frying chicken nuggets and french fries may not be so great from a health perspective, but it is — in a roundabout way — helping some local entrepreneurs save the environment.

Amy Brosi and her husband Kevin Shafer brought Evolution Biodiesel to life in 2005 with the hopes of making a positive impact on the environment. Biodiesel is essentially vegetable oil converted — via a process known as transesterfication — into an alternative fuel source usable in an unmodified diesel engine.

This means that once Brosi and Shafer collect used vegetable oil from restaurants around town (Fat Boys, to be a little more specific), filter it — to make sure the bits of french fries don’t get mixed in — and then process it through their own machines and top off the tank in their diesel-burning Jetta and F-150. Brosi said it is possible to run their vehicles on 100 percent biodiesel, but to help prevent the fuel from gelling up she usually fills up with half biodiesel and half petroleum diesel.

Brosi’s degree may be in criminal justice but her real passion revolves around environmental issues. Making biodiesel a viable alternative for people is all part of her working to make a difference.

“It’s part of trying to make the world a little bit better,” she said.

“It seems like we are on a really bad path, a destructive path. I want to make it cleaner for other peoples’ kids. I like this country. I want to take care of it, I want to take care of the world. And if I can make a little bit of a difference, I might as well.”

Shafer said once he found out how easy it is to make fuel at home he decided he wanted to give everyone that opportunity. Shafer said he also wants to see America become less dependent on foreign sources of oil.

“My brother spent 10 months in Iraq and Kuwait fighting, basically, an oil war,” Shafer said. “I want our country to be independent like it used to be and get away from foreign countries like China and Iraq and Saudia Arabia.”

So what is tangible impact of using biodiesel?

According to the National Biodiesel Board, the EPA reports that vehicles, which use the purest form of biodiesel (B100), can reduce their emission output by as much as 67 percent.

Brosi said using biodiesel also helps out America’s farmers since the oil can be made from soybeans and various seeds such as sunflower, mustard, flax, canola, hemp and rapeseed.

The units they make can process as little as 13 gallons or as much as 250 gallons of biodiesel at a time. The process for making the fuel is apparently simple enough that they sell them to anyone who wants one be it a farmer or just a regular joe who wants one to make his Ford Power Stroke F-350 run cleaner.

Anyone wishing to learn a little more about biodiesel can hear Ty Adams, a friend of Brosi and Shafer’s, speak at Sam Houston State University Monday morning at 8 a.m. in room 215 in the Lee Drain Building. Adams is a traveling journalist and biodiesel advocate.

Those interested in purchasing a unit from Evolution Biodiesel should call (281) 652-5716.