Before we opened our first pump in January 2006, access to biodiesel for consumers in the Los Angeles area was best described as dismal. Few options existed other than driving to Ventura to get B100 at the pump or to Cudahy to get B20 at the pump or B100 in bulk. Otherwise, drums of fuel had to be delivered to one’s residence, which was costly and only possible if one had storage space. A meeting
was held on October 21, 2005 to establish the viability for a fuel purchasing co-op and solicit potential members. At that meeting, enough initial members signed up to form the core of the co-op, and a trailer was ordered the next day. The co-op facility opened for business on January 7, 2006 on the West Side of LA, and since that time the Co-op has provided more than 85,000 gallons of biodiesel to coop members! The first trailer operated on the West Side until mid-June, 2006, when we achieved our goal of influencing the opening of public biodiesel pumps in the area. Because we were able to demonstrate a demand for high-quality locally produced B99, 3 commercial gas stations started selling B99 at the pump in the Pacific Palisades, then in Marina Del Rey, and eventually, in Brentwood, and with four other branches up the coast. (Unfortunately, all of these sites have since been downgraded to B5 or stopped selling biodiesel altogether in response to state restrictions and a corporate takeover by Tesoro Petroleum Corporation. )
