Fined for using soybean oil insteed of gas

[Baltar]

http://www.charlotte.com/112/story/153260.html

Bob Teixeira decided it was time to take a stand against U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

So last fall the Charlotte musician and guitar instructor spent $1,200 to convert his 1981 diesel Mercedes to run on vegetable oil. He bought soybean oil in 5-gallon jugs at Costco, spending about 30 percent more than diesel would cost.

His reward, from a state that heavily promotes alternative fuels: a $1,000 fine last month for not paying motor fuel taxes.

He's been told to expect another $1,000 fine from the federal government.

And to legally use veggie oil, state officials told him, he would have to first post a $2,500 bond.

Teixeira is one of a growing number of fuel-it-yourselfers -- backyard brewers who recycle restaurant grease or make moonshine for their car tanks. They do it to save money, reduce pollution or thumb their noses at oil sheiks.

They're also caught in a web of little-known state laws that can stifle energy independence.

State Sen. Stan Bingham, R-Davidson, is known around Raleigh for his diesel Volkswagen fueled by used soybean oil. The car sports a "Goodbye, OPEC" sign.

"If somebody was going to go to this much trouble to drive around in a car that uses soybean oil, they ought to be exempt" from state taxes, he said.

The N.C. Department of Revenue, which fined Teixeira, has asked legislators to waive the $2,500 bond for small fuel users. The department also told Teixeira, after the Observer asked about his case this week, that it will compromise on his fine.

But officials say they'll keep pursuing taxes on all fuels used in highway vehicles. With its 29.9-cent a gallon gas tax, the state collects $1.2 billion each year to pay for road construction.

"With the high cost of fuel right now, the department does recognize that a lot of people are looking for relief," said Reggie Little, assistant director of the motor fuel taxes division. "We're not here to hurt the small guy, we're just trying to make sure that the playing field is level."

Use promoted, little regulation

State policies firmly endorse alternative fuels.In 2005 legislators directed state agencies to replace 20 percent of their annual petroleum use with alternatives by 2010. About 6,000 of the state's 8,500 vehicles are equipped to use ethanol. The state fleet also includes about 135 gas-electric hybrids.

Few states, however, are prepared to regulate the new fuels, says the National VegOil Board, which promotes vegetable oil fuel.

"State offices do not have the forms to appropriately and fairly deal with VegOil, nor the staff to enforce the non-existent forms," said director Cynthia Shelton. "So either they tell people inquiring about compliance to get lost, or they make them jump through a bunch of arbitrary hoops."

Outraged Illinois legislators this spring quickly waived that state's $2,500 bond requirement when an elderly man was nabbed for using waste vegetable oil.

In the mountain district of state Sen. John Snow, D-Cherokee, home-brewed ethanol was once known as moonshine. But a couple of constituents who made it for fuel have been fined for the same tax violation that got Teixeira in trouble.

Snow has introduced several bills to promote biodiesel, which under state law includes vegetable oil.

"One of the biggest problems in the state is a real lack of information for people who want to use alternative fuels," said Snow's research assistant, Jonathan Ducote. "It's just now appearing on (regulators') radar."

Done in by bumper sticker

Teixeira's story began near Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 14. As recreational vehicles streamed in for race week, revenue investigators were checking fuel tanks of diesel RVs for illegal fuel.

The investigators quickly spotted Teixeira's passing bumper sticker: "Powered by 100% vegetable oil."

"It was like some twist of fate that put me there," he said. "It was like I was asking for them to stop me."

Teixeira says revenue officials are just doing their jobs. But he thinks it's unfair that he was lumped with people who purposely try to avoid fuel taxes.

"Individuals who are trying to do the right thing environmentally cannot and should not continue to take this kind of financial hit," he wrote Gov. Mike Easley.

Teixeira says he'll pay the state fine and apply for a state fuel license. But pumping regular diesel again "broke my heart."

"I'm ready to get myself legal," he said, "and start using vegetable oil again."

Alternative Fuel Vehicles*

North CarolinaDiesel 118,479

Flex fuel 121,547

(ethanol capable)

Hybrid 11,758

Total 251,784

South Carolina

Diesel 54,786

Flex fuel 68,303

Hybrid 3,264

Total 126,353

*Registered as of July 2006

SOURCE: Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers

More on Fuel Taxes

Piedmont Biofuels, a biodiesel cooperative in Pittsboro, posts links to state tax laws on its Web site: http://biofuels.coop/general

-information/taxes//. The N.C. Department of Revenue's motor fuels tax division has a toll-free number: 877-308-9092.

[noodle]

"We're not here to hurt the small guy, we're just trying to make sure that the playing field is level."

wow. they really need to get shit straightened out if they ever hope to have people switch over to alternative fuels.

[amy]

well, using recycled restaurant grease is all cool but I can see why the laws are there. I can see the vegetable oil situation quickly turning into another ethanol one, where people waste food to convert it to fuel, and massively screw up the economy

[GummyBearOfDoom]

Yea but even if that was the case Amy, that would take LOTS of people to actually do that.

[Gundampilotspaz]

I read about this a few months back

Pretty disgusting

well, using recycled restaurant grease is all cool but I can see why the laws are there. I can see the vegetable oil situation quickly turning into another ethanol one, where people waste food to convert it to fuel, and massively screw up the economy

That's silly, irrational, and without any realistic basis.

There is a ton of this stuff that just gets tossed away, so there is no reason for people to fry a bunch of chicken just to get to work.

[amy]

There is a ton of this stuff that just gets tossed away, so there is no reason for people to fry a bunch of chicken just to get to work.

That's what they said about corn, and now instead of just using the surplus grain, there is a huge business of growing corn to make ethanol. It's caused corn prices to go up everywhere (and by extension, meat and dairy prices - in New England, dairy farms are in huge trouble, and most are going out of business because they can't afford to feed their cows anymore) and is a massive problem in Mexico where instead of using the corn to feed their people, they're exporting it to us, because they can get more money that way. The only problem is there's not enough corn left there so prices go way up too and people can't afford to feed their families. It's REALLY unwise to let this kind of thing go unregulated.

Of course this guy is doing the right thing, and I think the courts should be A LOT more willing to make exceptions for people like him. I'm just saying there's a good reason the laws are there in the first place.

[Gundampilotspaz]

That's what they said about corn, and now instead of just using the surplus grain, there is a huge business of growing corn to make ethanol. It's caused corn prices to go up everywhere (and by extension, meat and dairy prices - in New England, dairy farms are in huge trouble, and most are going out of business because they can't afford to feed their cows anymore) and is a massive problem in Mexico where instead of using the corn to feed their people, they're exporting it to us, because they can get more money that way. The only problem is there's not enough corn left there so prices go way up too and people can't afford to feed their families. It's REALLY unwise to let this kind of thing go unregulated.

My mouth started to water from the excellent example of Capitalism you just supplied.

But hey, I'll take a few starving people today for a better environment tomorrow.

[noodle]

That's what they said about corn, and now instead of just using the surplus grain, there is a huge business of growing corn to make ethanol. It's caused corn prices to go up everywhere (and by extension, meat and dairy prices - in New England, dairy farms are in huge trouble, and most are going out of business because they can't afford to feed their cows anymore) and is a massive problem in Mexico where instead of using the corn to feed their people, they're exporting it to us, because they can get more money that way. The only problem is there's not enough corn left there so prices go way up too and people can't afford to feed their families. It's REALLY unwise to let this kind of thing go unregulated.

Of course this guy is doing the right thing, and I think the courts should be A LOT more willing to make exceptions for people like him. I'm just saying there's a good reason the laws are there in the first place.

nobody said anything about no regulations, just ones that are more balanced so honest people don't get screwed and make it harder for people to exploit the new use for it.

[Satan]

My mouth started to water from the excellent example of Capitalism you just supplied.

But hey, I'll take a few starving people today for a better environment tomorrow.

when starving people equals an excellent example of something, we tend to call that thing bad.

[Ceraziefish]

My mouth started to water from the excellent example of Capitalism you just supplied.

But hey, I'll take a few starving people today for a better environment tomorrow.

Because clearly some people having fuel for their cars is more important than a lot of people eating. Because the people with cars have money, thus making them better people. Christ. How can you actually think that people are better just because they have money?

Let's not start this again.

[Gundampilotspaz]

Let's not start this again.

You just can't take a fucking joke, can you?

[Ceraziefish]

You just can't take a fucking joke, can you?

Sorry. It's just hard for me to detect sarcasm when I've seen you say so many things seriously that I say as sarcasm all the time.

[The Lone Magician]

I think our cars should run on spam, because, hey, nobody eats it anyway.

[Gundampilotspaz]

Sorry. It's just hard for me to detect sarcasm when I've seen you say so many things seriously that I say as sarcasm all the time.

There is a line of reason even I won't cross :awesome: