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Gabe Neeriemer opened Guilford County's first biodiesel-making plant in High Point two years ago, after working in the field of nuclear medicine. His first, under-capitalized fuel plant closed after a disagreement with the local fire marshal and an attractive offer to sell his firm's equipment. Now he's back in the hunt as president of Patriot Biodiesel, a project that is nearing completion at the tank farm in western Greensboro.

Neeriemer spoke recently with staff writer Taft Wireback about his business plans, what's involved in making biodiesel and its future as an alternative fuel.

Q. Let's start with first things first. Can I run my car on this stuff you're going to make?

A. If your car has a diesel engine. Really, any kind of diesel engine can run on some sort of biodiesel, a blend that is part (regular) diesel and part biodiesel. And any diesel engine made after 1996 would even work really well with pure biodiesel, B100.

Q. But am I going to have to spend an arm and a leg modifying my car in some way?

A. That's the other question I get most frequently. No modification is necessary. It's a common misconception, but it's one of the beauties of biodiesel. It's very adaptable, particularly in a blend like B20 (20 percent bio), which is where we at Patriot want to go with our product.

Q. Where is Patriot Biodiesel going to be located and what exactly are you doing there now?

A. We're at 110 N. Chimney Rock Road, near West Market Street and in the tank-farm area. It's been the biggest undertaking of my career, 10 times bigger than I ever imagined and everything about it cost about 10 times more than I estimated. We have hired three different engineering firms to handle it, environmental engineers to construction engineers and mechanical engineers. Nobody has a turn-key biodiesel system, so we had to find the best of everything (needed to make biodiesel), buy it and put it together. Now we have all the tanks, indoor and outdoor. We have spill containment. We have a small lab that does (quality control) testing.

Q. What do you use to make biodiesel?

A. We use waste vegetable oil, and we're experimenting with pig fat. Getting the feedstock, the oils or animal fats, is the No. 1 aspect of my being president of this company. We cannot get enough. I tell anybody who wants to make money, 'Find me some feedstock and you'll be rich, in a heartbeat.' "

Q. How do you make it?

A. We're talking fats and oils. You start with their triglyceride molecule, you remove glycerol alcohol and you replace that with methanol alcohol. That's all you're doing, removing one form of alcohol and replacing it with another.

Q. When you're up and running, how will I know your fuel is of good quality?

A. We test our fuel to make sure it meets (industry) standards. There is no official certification, but you know from the testing. Our lab at the refinery does the quick tests, then we send it out to a third-party lab for final testing.

Q. Where can I get some biodiesel locally?

A. We're trying to get local gas stations to carry it. We sell to the fuel distributors who put it in the fuel tanks of the local gas station. If somebody really wants biodiesel at their local gas station, all they have to do is talk to the owners of the gas stations. Say to them, "Can you get biodiesel from Patriot?" If there is a demand, they're going to get it in.

Q. You mentioned blending diesel and biodiesel. Is it difficult to mix the two?

A. No, biodiesel is very compatible with diesel and it's easy to blend. Since we're located right next to the pipeline (for regular diesel), the fuel distributor just pulls up at the other diesel terminal in a semi-truck and fills his tanker 80 percent full. Then he drives it over to my site and fills up the rest of the way. That's how you get B20. It's called splash blending, (it) blends as he is driving down the road. We put bonding agents in our product that help it bond (with traditional diesel) and stay bonded.

Q. I've heard biodiesel has starting problems in cold weather. What's that all about?

A. Animal fats are solid at room temperature. So biodiesel will gel at lower temperatures and you have winter problems. But there are additives we use, anti-gelling agents that make a winter blend so it can handle lower temperatures. But also, when you buy a biodiesel blend (like B20), the diesel already has been winter-blended so the whole batch is winterized.

Q. When is your target date for opening?

A. Last August 1. (Laughs) We are stockpiling right now before we start massively producing. We have a small sales team going around (to restaurants, for example) and trying to round up more waste oil. ... We can't sell fuel yet, not until we get our license from the state. But we're ready to go and state government is ready, as soon as we receive final approval from the Internal Revenue Service. We turn that in to the state, bam, it's done and we're good.

Q. Can Patriot and the rest of the biodiesel industry free the United States from dependence on foreign diesel?

A. At Patriot, we are only going to make 1.5 million gallons of B100 a year, at the most. That's a drop in the bucket compared just to what the Triad uses (in regular diesel). ... Energy independence really comes down to everybody doing their different things the best they can. It's biodiesel. It's ethanol, wind, solar and natural gas. And other new technologies; there's a lot of new things we haven't even tried. All that, plus oil. There's no doubt that we're still going to need oil. But hopefully, we can get to the point where we're able to make it with our own domestic supplies.