[OFB Cafe] Hicks and City Slickehs

[Chris Olson]

From: Derek Broughton 
Sent: Friday, July 18, 2008 2:24 PM
To: An Open Discussion Forum on Just About Everything,Especially for Techies. 
Subject: Re: [OFB Cafe] Hicks and City Slickehs

> No, they don't, but don't think you're part of the solution, with your dozens 
> of non-farm-use vehicles.

I'd like to think that we're part of the solution simply because we contribute a considerable amount back into the food supply than what we use.  Virtually everything we own, from our lawnmower and personal trucks to our large farm equipment, is running on biodiesel fuel that I make in 250 gallon batches on the farm.  We burn less gasoline in a year in all our toys (collector cars, motorcycles, snowmobiles, ATV's, boat) combined than the average person does in their car in six months (figuring a 30 mpg car and average 15,000 miles per year - 250 gallons).

I do buy petroleum fuel in the winter time and blend it with biodiesel because B100 won't flow in our cold temperatures in Dec thru March.  And I do burn straight petroleum diesel fuel in my log skidder because of the fact that I do my logging in the winter time, the machine sits out in the middle of the woods on the landing and I need to start it in -20° F conditions sometimes.  When you run biodiesel in the winter time you have to park your rig inside a heating building so the fuel has a head start (60° F or better), then stays warm enough to flow in sub-zero temps by being circulated thru the injection system, thus being heated, while the engine is running.

So when I look at being part of the solution - I look at net use vs net contribution.  And I'm satisfied that we use our roughly 2,000 acres to contribute way more to society in the form of food than we use from society in fertilizer, fuels and other supplies.
--
Chris