OK, here goes a long post.
I suspect that most of the biodiesel industry will not participate in here as many of them see the home producer as a threat and they see a forum that includes a “making biodiesel” section as something to be avoided. This is indeed a shame, as while many of you do make your own biodiesel, there are more in here that would prefer to simply be able to buy it and the industry is remiss for not making it more available. If it were more available, they would not have as many home producers to worry about.
Either way, open discussion about biodiesel will not hurt anyone and I'm sure that members of the industry could in fact aid their standing and reputations by contributing in here to show their consumers that they care (as some of them already do).
I believe that we forum users are quite a powerful consumer lobby and eventually, the industry might start to open up and treat biodiesel in Australia as less of a secret.
This post is to preface the next I will make in this thread, as I feel many of you will need to understand the background of this industry to understand why it behaves the way it does (particularly to the home producer, who many industry members see as their natural enemy).
The Biodiesel Association of Australia, or BAA (www.biodiesel.org.au) has been the body that has claimed to represent biodiesel in Australia for many years now. Many people in the Biodiesel game (home producers, industry members and many biodiesel wannabe consumers – such as myself) have had bad experiences with them in the past. There are many in this forum who will have many bad things to say about them (that is their right, it is an open, public forum and as long as it does not get personal or defamatory, I’ll allow it). I also turned to the BAA for help a couple of years back and was annoyed that I had to pay a membership in order to get what I felt should be made publicly available. In fact, to make matters worse, when I did try to pay membership, my card was never debited and all my attempts to contact the BAA were completely ignored (in hindsight, probably a good thing). This was what spurred me on to create the Sydney Biodiesel Users Group and also this site, as I felt that there was a strong need for this information to be made free and public and for like minded people to be able to find each other. I'm glad that you all have since proved me right, as these sites are now attracting loads of traffic. I’ll continue to keep them running and I will not charge anyone for it.
Anyway, prior to 2003, the BAA used to be active. There were many acrimonious splits within the organisation, which we won’t go into here. However, there was a time when the BAA did represent Biodiesel in Australia in some form. Since 2003 the scene changed a little. Tax regulations were introduced, which effectively outlawed any small scale production of biodiesel, while commercial scale production would still be possible. There were also elements of the organisation which became commercial, many saying that this was a conflict of interest for an organisation.
The home producers buried themselves deep underground, as could be expected and no one really knew whether the BAA represented commercial industry, the home producer, or the consumer. In fact since 2003, they took no new memberships and as far as it looked to me “slept”. There were complaints from some members who saw nothing happening for their membership fees.
However, last year, new life seemed to be happening. I’m not sure whether I just started to notice it purely because I was now running these sites, or because things really were happening. After years of frustration with being ignored and not being able to get any real information, I was suddenly being invited to attend biodiesel functions. I had to be very careful to distance myself from much of the bad blood that seemed to exist with the BAA and I was careful not to tarnish myself by association. I had some discussions with the BAA about how I could objectively offer people stuff for free that they were charging memberships for and not be a natural enemy to them. They did not seem too concerned and it became clear to me that they were not really seeking memberships from people like myself anyway and we would not conflict. Next was my belief that they were not really doing anything, which was a belief shared by many. It seems that actually things have been happening, just not transparently or publicly, which I have a problem with, but there is a solution, as you will discover.
It became clear to me that the BAA had become an industry body and left the home producer far behind. This is not an amazing revelation and there are many of you out there who feel very betrayed that the BAA did not fight as you wanted on the exemption of excise for the home producer. This is fully understandable and I shared your ire. However, moving forward, there is now a rapidly growing industry of commercial biodiesel production that will be able to bring biodiesel to a wider audience. There are those that argue that the home production cannot co-exist with the commercial production and this is a debate that I fully understand both sides of, but I can remain outside of, as I am neither a home producer, or a commercial producer. I am simply a consumer who would love to use biodiesel and seen it promoted for all the benefits it can offer.
So, as it now stands, the BAA, despite past “bad blood” is still operating and has recently hosted a couple of events that have demonstrated a desire to keep going. Additionally, they are still the only body that other international biodiesel organisations look to for Australia. The recent advent of biodiesel on the Australian commercial marketplace has demonstrated that there are still some very big hurdles that need to be overcome, such as acceptance of both the vehicle manufacturers and the general public. I am never going to achieve this sort of thing on my own (my letters just get ignored). It is quite clear that there needs to be an industry body to represent the interests of the biodiesel industry here (note, I am mentioning industry, not home producers here, as it is quite obvious that vehicle manufacturers all think that biodiesel may mean home-brew, which they are all scared of). Is this the BAA? This has been a hotly debated question for a while now. Personally, I have always seen the BAA as an industry body, not representative of the home producers, or biodiesel consumers.
So, to get to my point, the BAA invited me to their most recent event, where they also invited the biodiesel industry to discuss the future of biodiesel in Australia. Initially, they thought I represented the home producer, but I had to point out that I did not represent anyone but myself (I’ve never yet made a litre of my own), and a users group who wanted to see biodiesel at the bowser.
The following post that I will make, I am not making as a BAA member (which I am not), I am simply trying to make public all the stuff that is going on, that the industry seems to keep secret, as I’m convinced that we need to hear it. I guess I was invited there to listen to what happened on the inside and try to report it to all those of you who would like to know that there is something going on with the biodiesel industry in Australia.
I suspect that most of the biodiesel industry will not participate in here as many of them see the home producer as a threat and they see a forum that includes a “making biodiesel” section as something to be avoided. This is indeed a shame, as while many of you do make your own biodiesel, there are more in here that would prefer to simply be able to buy it and the industry is remiss for not making it more available. If it were more available, they would not have as many home producers to worry about.
Either way, open discussion about biodiesel will not hurt anyone and I'm sure that members of the industry could in fact aid their standing and reputations by contributing in here to show their consumers that they care (as some of them already do).
I believe that we forum users are quite a powerful consumer lobby and eventually, the industry might start to open up and treat biodiesel in Australia as less of a secret.
This post is to preface the next I will make in this thread, as I feel many of you will need to understand the background of this industry to understand why it behaves the way it does (particularly to the home producer, who many industry members see as their natural enemy).
The Biodiesel Association of Australia, or BAA (www.biodiesel.org.au) has been the body that has claimed to represent biodiesel in Australia for many years now. Many people in the Biodiesel game (home producers, industry members and many biodiesel wannabe consumers – such as myself) have had bad experiences with them in the past. There are many in this forum who will have many bad things to say about them (that is their right, it is an open, public forum and as long as it does not get personal or defamatory, I’ll allow it). I also turned to the BAA for help a couple of years back and was annoyed that I had to pay a membership in order to get what I felt should be made publicly available. In fact, to make matters worse, when I did try to pay membership, my card was never debited and all my attempts to contact the BAA were completely ignored (in hindsight, probably a good thing). This was what spurred me on to create the Sydney Biodiesel Users Group and also this site, as I felt that there was a strong need for this information to be made free and public and for like minded people to be able to find each other. I'm glad that you all have since proved me right, as these sites are now attracting loads of traffic. I’ll continue to keep them running and I will not charge anyone for it.
Anyway, prior to 2003, the BAA used to be active. There were many acrimonious splits within the organisation, which we won’t go into here. However, there was a time when the BAA did represent Biodiesel in Australia in some form. Since 2003 the scene changed a little. Tax regulations were introduced, which effectively outlawed any small scale production of biodiesel, while commercial scale production would still be possible. There were also elements of the organisation which became commercial, many saying that this was a conflict of interest for an organisation.
The home producers buried themselves deep underground, as could be expected and no one really knew whether the BAA represented commercial industry, the home producer, or the consumer. In fact since 2003, they took no new memberships and as far as it looked to me “slept”. There were complaints from some members who saw nothing happening for their membership fees.
However, last year, new life seemed to be happening. I’m not sure whether I just started to notice it purely because I was now running these sites, or because things really were happening. After years of frustration with being ignored and not being able to get any real information, I was suddenly being invited to attend biodiesel functions. I had to be very careful to distance myself from much of the bad blood that seemed to exist with the BAA and I was careful not to tarnish myself by association. I had some discussions with the BAA about how I could objectively offer people stuff for free that they were charging memberships for and not be a natural enemy to them. They did not seem too concerned and it became clear to me that they were not really seeking memberships from people like myself anyway and we would not conflict. Next was my belief that they were not really doing anything, which was a belief shared by many. It seems that actually things have been happening, just not transparently or publicly, which I have a problem with, but there is a solution, as you will discover.
It became clear to me that the BAA had become an industry body and left the home producer far behind. This is not an amazing revelation and there are many of you out there who feel very betrayed that the BAA did not fight as you wanted on the exemption of excise for the home producer. This is fully understandable and I shared your ire. However, moving forward, there is now a rapidly growing industry of commercial biodiesel production that will be able to bring biodiesel to a wider audience. There are those that argue that the home production cannot co-exist with the commercial production and this is a debate that I fully understand both sides of, but I can remain outside of, as I am neither a home producer, or a commercial producer. I am simply a consumer who would love to use biodiesel and seen it promoted for all the benefits it can offer.
So, as it now stands, the BAA, despite past “bad blood” is still operating and has recently hosted a couple of events that have demonstrated a desire to keep going. Additionally, they are still the only body that other international biodiesel organisations look to for Australia. The recent advent of biodiesel on the Australian commercial marketplace has demonstrated that there are still some very big hurdles that need to be overcome, such as acceptance of both the vehicle manufacturers and the general public. I am never going to achieve this sort of thing on my own (my letters just get ignored). It is quite clear that there needs to be an industry body to represent the interests of the biodiesel industry here (note, I am mentioning industry, not home producers here, as it is quite obvious that vehicle manufacturers all think that biodiesel may mean home-brew, which they are all scared of). Is this the BAA? This has been a hotly debated question for a while now. Personally, I have always seen the BAA as an industry body, not representative of the home producers, or biodiesel consumers.
So, to get to my point, the BAA invited me to their most recent event, where they also invited the biodiesel industry to discuss the future of biodiesel in Australia. Initially, they thought I represented the home producer, but I had to point out that I did not represent anyone but myself (I’ve never yet made a litre of my own), and a users group who wanted to see biodiesel at the bowser.
The following post that I will make, I am not making as a BAA member (which I am not), I am simply trying to make public all the stuff that is going on, that the industry seems to keep secret, as I’m convinced that we need to hear it. I guess I was invited there to listen to what happened on the inside and try to report it to all those of you who would like to know that there is something going on with the biodiesel industry in Australia.
Comment