WVO, SVO, Biodiesel, MN law and taxes

Here's some info from a site I came across that was a little hard to find. But now I did, and I want to share it with you. If you're interested in installing a greasekit in your diesel car in Minnesota, read below.

"I commute 100+ miles to work 5 or 6 times a week, that adds up very quickly on anybody's odometer! And it get's worse when you look at a vehicles fuel mileage/ fuel bill. with the cost of gasoline headed up last Spring I decided to find a vehicle with a high MPG rating. Most are high bred's such as the Toyota Prius or Honda Insight which are Gas/Electric & are short on track record, yet. I decided on a diesel, proven economy, dependability, & flexibility on fuel.

On the following pages I attempt to explain how you can do this too! I also want to give you a "hands on" view of problems you can expect or avoid from my experiences. Sorry, put your credit card away I'm not selling anything.

For anyone looking for Bio-diesel Info this is the wrong site. As I am all for Bio-diesel, but I don't deal with it for a variety of reasons:
1. Ethanol or Methanol is required for the making of Bio-diesel, it is very flammable!
2. Lye is required, & it too is very toxic.
3. It costs more to make Bio-diesel than SVO/WVO.
4. It is illegal to make Bio-diesel without a permit and paying Road Taxes.
5. I am not a chemist.

CONSUMER ALERT: When an add claims to be "Biodiesel ready" be cautious, as most vehicles are not ready for Biodiesel. To use Biodiesel in most vehicles the fuel lines, which are usually made of rubber, need to be replaced with a polyvinyl or Vinton type lines. Veg oil &/or biodiesel will break down the rubber and cause leakage.

And more things to watch out for, just 'cause an item is on a WVO Web Site don't believe it is the only place to get it. Case in point: A certain web page I came across is selling the cone type filters used in restaurants, (I use them as a coarse filter, prefilter if you will), a box of 50 for $24.95+shipping!!!! I buy the same thing from Dunbar's Inc., Sup.,WI for about $8.00. Everything on my pages should be able to be purchased locally.
A quick Thank-You to some of my Suppliers:
Ace Hardware of Sandstone, MN, Steve & the guys can help me out with most all those last minute needs.
Cummins of Duluth, MN, Roger & the rest of the guys behind the counter will know what your looking for in filter needs.
Duluth Sheet Metal, Great Guys at building Steel or Aluminum Fuel tanks at a reasonable price.
Foreign Affairs in Duluth, MN, Jeff and his crew work on all makes of European vehicles. This is Super great for me & many others as there are NO dealerships within 100+ miles for most makes,(VW, Porsche, Mercedes,etc.). Their knowledgeable staff are very accurate with their estimates and up-to-date with the latest servicing of vehicles.

The Latest: All Minnesota Residents, Please Read!!!
Spring update for 2008: Sent in my WVO Fuels tax for 2007! All $86.40. For anybody that hasent heard, we had a bridge collapse back in Aug. 2007. Brought on by bad design/maintenance/overuse/etc. so... Have heard from many people on their state tax woes, both in E-Mail & articles, & decided it's better to join them than fight. Besides, I save so much more than what the legal fees would be!

I have parts I will be hawking (selling), to any body that wants to do the copper Tube-in-a-tube set-up as I do, but don't have the expertise or tools to do the ends. Basically consists of a copper "T" with ends that use clamps & a brass nut to close the ends. I will be selling them in pairs, one for each end. They come with my year+ of actual use & no problem/leak history.
I'm also hoping to have a booklet available with nearly everything I can think of pertaining to WVO use! Including: Filtering, Design, Installation, Cold Weather Use, & a Short Cut Section all with ample color photos. This is aimed basically at Novices, converting VW & Mercedes, Basics of most other brands, & hopefully objective enough for you to decide wether WVO is for you, & wether to buy a kit or build your own as I have. Available May,'08

Dec. 28th, 2006 I receved a Letter from the Minnesota Internal Revenue Office, Grease Police, oops Petroleum Tax Unit. Seems some new laws have been passed requiring all of us Greasers to pay $.20/ Gal. on all WVO/SVO we've been using & will use in the future!
Yeah, that's right!!! Am looking into when this went into effect, Who authored the bill, & a lot more...

I spoke with Jeremy Neeck, Revenue Tax Specialist, about this. As they have no way of verifying one's usage, it is basically on an honor system at this time. However, let's get our input on this as soon as possible! Contact your Legislature or my self.

Please contact me through my Links page, your info will not be passed on, I want to get a movement going to have this at least revised. Diesel is taxed at 20cents/gal., WVO & Bio-Diesel, in my opinion, should be taxed at a lower rate, which I will explain in the future.
If you have immediate questions, you may contact: Jeremy Neeck, of the Petroleum Tax Unit at jeremy.neeck@state.mn.us phone: (507) 523-1030 or Michelle Zitur michelle.zitur@state.mn.us or (651) 556-6359.

I do believe as users of our hiways & byways we should pay tax. I don't believe as leaders in an alternative fuel we should pay as much, I also believe that if MN wants to be a Leader in the future of Alternative Fuels it needs to give us a break!
The fact sheet you will want to read is: Organic Oil Motor Fuel Tax - Fact Sheet 701. The Tax form is: Organic Oil Motor Fuel Tax Return - ORG-1.

Originally, when I talked to a MN Hiway Patrol Officer about WVO use he informed me we were looked at as Hybrid Vehicles, such as Toyota Prius & Honda Insight's. This has now changed of course! I want to push for a bill allowing us to continue as Hybrids, we start & stop on Diesel, a conventional fuel, and use an alternative fuel, WVO, at times. The problem with the state trying to regulate WVO (or Elec.), is they have NO way of knowing how much it's being used. I agree I should be, as well as people who make & use Bio-Diesel, paying Taxes, however, I believe we should get a break.

This could be in the form of:
1. Paying less per Gallon, instead of $.20/ gal. it should be cut in half, 10 cents/ gallon.
2. A credit on our Taxes for using Alternative Vehicles, ( Frankly I believe everybody who uses Public, Car pooling, or Alternative Transportation should get a credit).
3. Last resort would be a flat tax at time of yearly registration. Ranging from $25- 100.00
depending on vehicle Avg. MPG. Lower tax for vehicles with a higher MPG, more money for vehicles with a lower MPG that want to use WVO or Bio-Diesel.

If you think about it this make sense for a few reasons:
1. Wether we are using WVO or Biodiesel we are collecting a USED, ALREADY TAXED & PAID FOR REFUSE! We are keeping this out of landfills, in most cases in my neck of the woods, the WVO is thrown into dumpsters. The WVO collection companies everybody has read about in the Mpls. Trib. last summer, that collects the used oil & replaces it with new, at a cost of $3000-5000 & a commitment of 5 years, are not going to come up to each of the restaurants for the 10-20 gallons of wvo every week or two! Not 1 eatery up here could afford that!
2. We have modified &/or purchased equipment (invested), to do this. I typically spend about $400/vehicle + the $200 or so for filtering. Not sure what the Bio-Diesel investments are, but have heard $2000 is not unusual.
3. The fuel we are burning is cleaner! State can't discount that, considering they have mandated 2% Bio-Diesel in all diesel a year & a half ago!!!
4. If the state of Minnesota wants to stay at the front line of Enviromentally Friendly Policies they should make right by the people who have taken the initiative to start, ambition to act, & willingness to fight for what is right! Especially considering we are not asking for thousands of dollars to go into a business that cannot survive without Government subsidies & law supported demand (I'll leave it at that).
5. And yea, there after me, cause of this web page, they have no real roadside test of knowing who is adding WVO to their Diesel without taking a sample & sending it in to a lab for testing. I suppose they could stand on the side of the freeway with their noses to the wind sniffing for fried food!!! lol

Something to think about...."