|
WHO'S WHO IN CALIFORNIA BIODIESEL
Dave Williamson
General Manager, Orange Diesel
As Operations Manager at the Berkeley Ecology Center in 2000, Dave Williamson had done a good amount of research on possible alternative fuels for the Center's 10-truck fleet, which handled the City of Berkeley's curbside recycling program. But he hadn't been able to meet the Center's strict requirements for a non-extractive fuel until he met UC Berkeley undergrad Desiree Sideroff. Desiree came to the Ecology Center seeking a partner in a biodiesel project for her student co-op, Berkeley Worms, which had invented an innovative system that collected, processed and fed campus food waste to their worms, all from one truck.
Desiree put Dave in touch with Randall von Wedel of Cytoculture, who in the 90s had the first car in the state to run on biodiesel. Randall instructed Dave on how to set up the tanks, which included a good cleaning. Soon, not only Desiree's unique truck, but the entire Ecology Center fleet was running on biodiesel. In what Dave likes to call a "cowboy move," he tested the Ecology Center fleet on B20, but then went straight to B100 without much ceremony at all.
With no guidelines for biodiesel use in fleets at the time, and only 90 days of biodiesel use by a company called the Green Team to learn from, Dave became his own R&D operation, learning on the job and achieving great success with this first-of-its-kind operation. Recycling truck drivers, including Dave from time to time, experienced the joy of having people come out of their homes to thank them for using biodiesel.
The City of Berkeley had begun to use B20 in the city's fleet in August of 2001. A year later, Dave hired John Bauer of Berkeley Worms for $600, and together they ran a "One Latte (and One Pastry) Per Person Per Year" campaign (Randall's idea), which addressed the city's concern about the additional cost to move to B100 in terms everyone could understand. The city then moved forward with B100 in January of 2003, with Bill Ivie of the Equipment Maintenance Division helping to troubleshoot problems as they arose.
Berkeley's groundbreaking environmental success made national news when it won a sustainability award from the EPA Region 9 and was evaluated as the second most sustainable city in the United States, based on its biodiesel program alone. Dave's dad would call him from Louisiana as he found news stories in local papers around the country. Those were heady days.
The Ecology Center was humming along smoothly with biodiesel. The city's program, however, started off with one tough issue and was brought to its knees by an even tougher one. Storage tanks had not been cleaned before being filled with biodiesel and mold and bacteria blooms developed. That early problem was solved with the proper application of a biocide and a new routine tank maintenance program. Then, after two years of operation, heavy contamination of crankcase oil and out-of-spec biodiesel resulted in two blown engines. Bearings seized, rods were thrown, vehicles stopped en route. When the City of Berkeley ended its biodiesel program, it sent shock waves throughout the biodiesel community.
Fortunately, Dave was able to pass on the lessons learned and the prospect for fleet success from Berkeley to the City/Co of San Francisco in talks with Kevin Drew of the San Francisco Department of the Environment and then to Marty Mellera of MUNI (transit), who went on to become key in converting the entire city fleet to B20 in 2007 under former Mayor Newsom's executive order.
In 2005, Dave founded Orange Diesel, which focused on brokering yellow grease, importing rail cars of canola, and making plans to build a plant using next generation technology. In 2008, Orange Diesel won an RFP to build a biodiesel plant but was unable to capitalize it due to tough economic times. Like many who have survived in California biodiesel, Dave has adapted and now supplements his income with sales, feedstock development, and biodiesel consulting.
Dave is the first to explain that biodiesel fleet program success requires a committed project manager who is empowered to quickly troubleshoot problems, develop procedures and source quality, affordable fuel. When asked why neither the Ecology Center or the City of Berkeley are using biodiesel today, Dave says that the bottom line is one that has plagued a number of biodiesel programs that were decertified in 2008 by State Water Board regulations - single-walled underground storage tanks (USTs). In the past year, Dave has put his knowledge of and experience with fleets to work through a CBA program that assists UST owners storing B20 in USTs in securing the variances required to comply with Water Board regulations.
A very valuable biodiesel jack-of-all-trades with skills that include fleet management, grant writing, and public speaking, Dave was the first person to join CBA in its new individual member category. If he has any "cowboy moves" left, they involve hitting the dusty trail this month with saddlebags full of variance paperwork and materials compatibility documentation on a tour of UST sites in need.
| 
