While I do not question that biodiesel is a cleaner fuel than standard diesel, I don't think I'd dive right in to the smell of it burning in an engine the way that Portland, Oregon construction safety coordinator Dane Brewer (of Anderson Construction) does in this article. Libby Tucker, wrting in the Daily Journal of Commerce, starts with the image of Brewer going up to a forklift's exhaust and "taking a big whiff." I sure hope it was burning B100.

But the point of the article is not biodiesel's well-known French fry smell, but that more and more construction firms in Oregon are turning to biodiesel as an alternative fuel for their equipment. Brewer is working on the site for an expansion of Portland's hospital where patients and staff used to complain about diesel exhaust odors. The anti-odor solution was to switch to biodiesel (after the workers tried to pump the exhaust through a "jury-rigged metal conduit" away from the building. That didn't work).

Another company, Portland's Walsh Construction Co., uses B20 in its delivery trucks.

[Source: HeraldNet]