Saturday, January 2, 2010

Biodiesel survey shows 99 percent would recommend biodiesel to others

Biodiesel users remain a solid fan club. For the third year in a row, 99 percent of respondents to a national survey say they would recommend biodiesel to others. Energy security and environmental/health benefits continue to reign as the top reasons for biodiesel support in the annual survey of biodiesel users across the United States.

The Biodiesel Alliance project supported by the United Soybean Board has conducted the online survey for the past three years. More than 500 biodiesel users responded to the 2009 survey.

Respondents own, operate or manage a total of 4,025 diesel vehicles. They identified themselves as 46 percent motorists, 8 percent farmers, 7 percent fleet managers, 4 percent petroleum distributors, 4 percent truck drivers, and 28 percent other. The average respondent had used biodiesel for four years, and 89 percent reported little to no engine and/or fuel quality problems using biodiesel.

Biodiesel support by an original equipment manufacturer was an important consideration in decisions for 87 percent of respondents when making a purchase of that company’s products. This is up from 82 percent the previous year. By far, the leading reason for not using biodiesel was availability at 80 percent, down slightly from the previous year’s 89 percent. At 15 percent, price was the next biggest obstacle cited for not using biodiesel.

Go to http://www.biodiesel.org/aboutnbb/alliance/ to join the Biodiesel Alliance for organizations and companies, or the Biodiesel Backers program for individuals.

Source: www.biodieselmagazine.com