Biodiesel bill passes N.H. House

[jpak]

http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/04082007/nhnews-08sun-biodiesel.html

Four year ago, David Borden of New Castle started putting the pieces together. His wife's asthma was getting worse, the price of gasoline was starting to rise, and the northern old maple trees on his property were dying while the southern red oaks were flourishing.

He bought an old diesel Volkswagen and traveled two hours to West Chesterfield on the border of Vermont and filled up a bunch of cans with biodiesel "" a more environmentally friendly fuel that was beginning to catch on. He started using it in his boat, farm equipment and to heat his home.

Borden, now a Democratic member of the state House, is trying not only to make it easier to get biodiesel in the state, but to make it the rule rather than the exception. He introduced a bill that would be the first step in creating a statewide initiative to replace 20 percent of the state's fossil fuels used in diesel and home heating oils with biodiesel produced from vegetable oils and animal waste.

"The state has a tremendous opportunity to find ways for the state to be more energy independent," Borden said. "We probably can't do more than 20 percent, but that would make an enormous difference."

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