Future Fuels Distribution in Sydney

[ARKH]

Good Morning

I went to the Volumne Plus Forestville 702 Warringah Rd 2087 (02) 9451 0133 Station yesterday. There is a sign ( laminated A4 size on the bowser that says that the fuel is a BD blend and is manufactured to Standard with reference to the standad, no mention of the %. The staff at the counter advised that it is B50 but that he does not know much more as he only mans the cash register.

So I filled up half a tank and a Jerry can and had a look at home. Colour is same as ABGs BD smells a bit more like canola oil and the consitancy is also very similar to ABGs BD.

The car drives the same with no change in sound or performance.

Price at Forestvill was 138.9 c/L

Then I went this morning to Lewisham 764 Parramatta Rd 2049 (02) 9569 3311 - and found the same deal as in Forestville.

Price at Lewisham was 139.9 c/L

On both stations the pumps were clean and looked well maintained. They did not have the usual diesel mess and smell that one finds at other stations.

I will write to Future Fuels to find out more about their process.

[Glenn]

I purposely let my tank of fossil diesel run really low knowing that I would be passing through Forestville today, and it was exactly as you all have suggested - Biodiesel Blend at the pump from Volume Plus! I spoke briefly to the guy at the counter. I thought he could have been more excited about the whole thing but all he basically said was "it's a low Sulphur blend" and not much else. He was quite indifferent about the whole thing. On the other hand I was pretty excited as this was the first taste my car has ever had of BD. I told him that he would be sure to get a good demand for it once word gets out. Thanks Robert and everyone for getting the information out there so we can get more people onto the product.
Glenn

[Robert]

OK people, just an update on the complete lack of progress that is getting made on getting any (formal or informal) answers out of Future Fuels. Additionally, there is another sub-distributor called Diamond Fuels, who is supplying to other servos (not volume plus). I called him 2 weeks ago and he said he could not tell me where he was supplying to at that moment, but would call me back. He never did, so I chased him again today, but he refused to tell me anything. He said that Future Fuels had a strategy and I would have to talk to them, despite the fact that they'd already refused to talk to me before. Despite me mentioning specific servos that I know him to be supplying (like Zoom at Milperra), he was evasive and would only tell me that Volume Plus had it and I’d have to talk to Future Fuels.

Great strategy eh?

Anyway, I sighed and called FF again. Asked the same questions, was told that the boss there “Eddy” would have to speak to me (who to this date has never returned a single one of my calls). I stressed again that I would have to report my complete lack of confidence as a consumer in what they were doing and also stressed that I would be addressing the Alternate Motor Show with information based on their responses, but I’m not sure if that made any impact. I called their plant in Vic as well and explained my frustration to them there. The lady I spoke to at least seemed to understand my frustration and asked me to email her.

The text below is a cut & paste from the email I sent. Let’s see what comes back. I really hate having to air all this “dirty laundry” here on line, but hopefully if the players in the Australian Biodiesel Industry can clean up their act a little, we consumers would not be left in the lurch like this. Let’s hope things improve from here.

Thanks for your time this morning. As I said on the phone, I've been seeking for some time now to know where people can buy biodiesel in Sydney. I don't see how this should be such a secret, but unfortunately, I don't seem to be getting any answers. If you could please pass this on, I'd appreciate it.

From the private research that my users have done, it has been discovered that some of the Volume Plus stations did not sell biodiesel, or if they did, they only sold it sometimes and could give no real information on it. I've been told by your Sydney office that there are 19 stations, yet there are 21 listed. So which ones are they? Do they always stock biodiesel, is it clearly marked, is there any consumer information about it? I have also had some good reports about some of the stations having B50 and there being a small label on the pump, although there was little or no information available about it at the point of sale.

While I am very happy that Future Fuels are making it available retail, I am very unsure about the way they seem to be going about it. Additionally, I have tried to contact Diamond Fuels, who will not tell me either! I know of at least 2, possibly 3 (not volume plus) service stations that my users have "uncovered", but still they will not tell me.

Why is this a commercial secret?

When I give my talk tomorrow at the motor show, if I can get no better answers, I will have to tell the people of Sydney that the Volume Plus retail outlets are an unknown quantity, the distributor who is supplying them is secretive and shady and I can get no information from them about the availability, let alone any of the other critical questions, such as consumer info, quality etc. As Future Fuels are not honest and transparent to the consumers about what they are doing, I can only recommend that consumers beware of them. I would not like to do this, but I am not being left many other options.

Lastly, it does concern me greatly that the potentially good name of biodiesel might be damaged through the clandestine strategy that Future Fuels and Diamond Fuels seem to be taking. I often speak with some of Sydney's bigger players in the media (who are also unaware of Volume Plus's biodiesel). I have not yet mentioned this to them, as I was waiting for something more positive, but if no one will return my calls, or give me real info, then I will have to start down this path. I am sure that the media (not to mention Fair Trading etc) would not be happy to discover biodiesel being slyly slipped into the market in this manner. I would hate to see another ethanol debacle happen, so please help me prevent this happening by talking to me and actually being honest about what you are doing! I am trying to help you here, so I don't understand why you would ignore me!

I wonder if I will get a response (hey Eddie, if you read it here, please feel free to join up and answer - it's free you know)

[Robert]

Slightly more positive news:

Eddy phoned me this afternoon and explained some things to me. Firstly, they are not producing sufficient volumes to satisfy a consistent blend at all stations. What this means is that some stations might stock B50, others B30 and others even less, or no bioidiesel. To complicate matters more, even if we could have a list of which stations have which blends, they would change all the time, as the blend levels are not consistently maintained, as the distribution is spread around "as it goes".
They understood the need for a list, or to better inform the consumer and promised to work on this. I will be following up with them and reporting as I can.

[biofuelbaby]

Filled up at Volume Plus at Wentworthville. Attendant had no idea of percentage biodiesel in fuel. Visible golden colour so could have been somewhere between B30 and B50. Seems very much pot luck. No signage. Attendant not very talkative as the (diesel) customer behind me yelled out "Where do you get your f*****g fuel?". I didn't hang around to find out how they resolved their differences.

Cheers

Phil

[Robert]

Hey, that's good info - thanks. It's great that the fuel was a golden colour - obviously a bio blend, but it is really becoming quite clear to us all that they urgently need to clean up their act with being able to inform their consumers. Let's hope they work something out soon.

[mattD110td5x]

Hi All,

I did a fill at Forrestville a week ago and so far, apart from the constant
craving for chips ... all is good.

I tried to start up a conversation with the attendant,
English was not his first language so a lengthy chat was
difficult but he did say;
"everyone using very happy,
you know it is Australian Standard
it's better and cheaper"

I asked if he was going to put up a big biodiesel sign and he
replied "will sell out too quickly, not enough"

I don't have any experience with biodiesel and blending but I would
guess from the colour and the exhaust aroma that the blend would
be at least 50% or possibly higher.

If the aroma is stronger for B100 then I may have a problem with
my waistline

ttfn
Matthew

[Jacka]

OK I might be able to add some more to this.

The VP in Ingleburn has signs up on the bowsers to inform customers that they are using a blended biodiesel fuel and it was up to standard.

I drive as a courier so since Jan this year I have been using the same VP to fuel up at and have over the time been talking to the 4 different operaters there.

They get their Biodiesel from Future Fuels but they have told me that some times they can not get fuel from future fuels when they require it. Because of the location being in an industrial area they are getting a Diesel delivery every day most weeks of a full tanker load. They can go a week or several with getting 100% of their fuel from Future Fuels but then they can go a month or more with one day from future fuels and the next from whoever they can get diesel from. In 5 months they have only run out of diesel once which was of course when I wanted some

They have said that the owners would love to supply B50 100% of the time but the supply issues seem to be the biggest problem.

At this point I have asked if they could get me something from Future Fuels but they seem to be having the same problem.

From early conversations I had with one of the guys there he said that it was Palm Oil biodiesel but as to if that is true and correct I have no idea.

When I am next in there I will pump him for more info Being a courier we are currently going through between our 2 diesel's about 250L per week of fuel I would love to be able to buy it wholesale or even cook it myself but that is yet to come.

[ARKH]

Mobil Biodiesel??

I went to Volumne Plus in Forestville and found that the pump was 'Out of Order' so I drove further up the Hill at Warringah Road and stopped at Metro Petroleum.

Diesel was 139.9 c/L and smelled of BD and looked like BD but there was no signage on the bowser indicating that it is a blend.

I asked the attendent who cheerfully advised that it is a B20 Blend and is supplied by Mobil.

He said he had been selling it for approximatly 1 year now and most people were happy with it.

There is no mention of this on Mobils Web site and judging by the prices they charge at their Brand station it is unlikly that they sell BD blends there.

The mystery tour continous.

[ARKH]

Late Update on the post above.

I rang Metro Petroleum this afternoon after visiting their web site

http://www.dibgroup.com.au/metro.htm

They told me that they sell B20 at most sites, source it from ABG.

So there.