Re: Biodiesel: The Way to Go!
- From: "tscottme" <blahblah@xxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 04:10:55 -0500
Until you recognize the tiny quantities available of this more expensive
fuel it seems like a good deal. Anyone in their wildest dreams think we're
going to grow 100 or 1,000 times more soybeans and corn so we can eat and
drive? Attempting to do so would require massive increases in farm fuel and
fertilizers which means massive amounts of petroleum. The typical fast food
restaurant produces only enough "grease" product to cover 1/4 or less of the
miles the employees would drive going to/from work.
Betting on biodiesel for fuel is like hoping to switch from running your car
on fuel to running it on STP gas treatment.
--
Scott
By pretending that all cultures are equal, multiculturalism doesn't
'preserve' traditional cultures so much as sustain them in an artificial
state that ensures they'll develop bizarre pathologies and mutate into some
freakish hybrid of the worst of both worlds.
Mark Steyn
"Yik Yak" <jim154@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:7m9lj1pmm12gki0oq7moeig2tdorucjvv6@xxxxxxxxxx
> Biodiesel competes with high gas prices
>
> By NATHAN CRABBE
>
> Sun staff writer
>
> September 26. 2005 6:01AM
> Kiara Pywell removes a hand pump from a 55-gallon drum of biodiesel
> Tuesday after fueling her Chevy truck before Dr. Calvin Martin, right,
> takes the drum to his home in Micanopy.Klara Pywell's truck looks
> funny, but she's getting the last laugh.
>
> While most drivers, helpless as war and weather, play games with gas
> supplies, her fuel source depends on local residents' appetites.
>
> Her canary-yellow 1982 Chevrolet truck has a series of interconnected
> tubes and buckets attached to its bed, allowing it to run on waste
> vegetable oil. Filling up means pulling to the back of a local
> restaurant and grabbing a few gallons.
>
> Pywell stresses the truck is just an educational tool to show the
> potential of using local, renewable sources for fuel. Her group, the
> Alachua County Biofuels Co-Op, obtains and plans to produce a refined
> version of vegetable oil - called biodiesel - that works in any diesel
> engine.
>
> "People can begin to meet their fuel needs locally," she said.
>
> As hurricanes wreak havoc with the nation's oil supply and boost
> prices at the pump, biodiesel reduces dependency on fossil fuels.
> Biodiesel also emits lower levels of pollutants than conventional
> diesel fuel. High costs were considered an obstacle to wider use, but
> rising gas prices mean biodiesel is now competitively priced.
>
> The co-operative, which had been discussed for years but got started
> in recent months, helps members obtain drums of biodiesel from a Tampa
> distributor. Members plan to build a mini-refinery to produce
> biodiesel on their own. They're in discussions to help Alachua County
> Public Works again use biodiesel in the county's vehicle fleet.
>
> The county used biodiesel in its trucks, ambulances, fire engines and
> other vehicles for nearly three years until it lost its supplier in
> 2003, said Ray Griffin, interim fleet manager. He said the fuel worked
> flawlessly and he would start again if a reliable supplier could be
> arranged.
>
> "I think that's the way of the future," he said.
>
> The concept of using vegetable oil for fuel isn't new. Rudolf Diesel's
> prototype engine used peanut oil, and many diesel engines ran on
> vegetable oil until the 1920s, before the petroleum industry promoted
> a gasoline by-product as diesel fuel.
>
> For biodiesel, the oil is refined to remove chemicals that can be
> rough on engines. Unlike conventional diesel, biodiesel is
> biodegradable and nontoxic. It is sometimes mixed with regular diesel
> in varying levels.
>
> Biodiesel is a burgeoning business. Singer Willie Nelson sells his own
> version, called BioWillie, at a Texas truck stop and other locations.
> But there's just a handful of suppliers in Florida.
>
> The co-operative gets its biodiesel from Ward Oil of Tampa. Biofuels
> America, a distributor based in Fort Lauderdale, currently sells a
> beef tallow version of biodiesel for $2.95 a gallon, said company
> President Jim Robertson. The company has also sold versions made from
> soybeans and poultry fat.
>
> "It's going back to the basics of using renewable resources for fuel,"
> Robertson said.
>
> He said biodiesel is easy on his engine and gives good gas mileage,
> allowing him to put more than 340,000 miles on his 1994 Ford truck as
> he lugs drums around the state. Emissions produce a sweet oil smell,
> he said, as well as less pollution.
>
> Pure biodiesel produces two-thirds less hydrocarbons, which cause
> smog, as conventional diesel, according to the U.S. Environmental
> Protection Agency. There's half the emission levels of carbon monoxide
> and particulate matter, both human heath hazards.
>
> The only downside is biodiesel produces slightly more nitrous oxide,
> another contributor to smog, than conventional diesel, the EPA found.
>
> Some locals have made the switch for reasons more personal than
> environmental. Dr. Calvin Martin, a Gainesville family practitioner,
> said he switched to biodiesel in the tractor he uses to mow his
> Micanopy farm because he likes the convenience of picking up 55-gallon
> drums from the co-op.
>
> Now he's in the market for a diesel vehicle so he can use biodiesel to
> fuel his transportation from the farm to his job in Gainesville. He's
> eyeing a diesel Volkswagen Jetta station wagon that gets 49 miles to
> the gallon.
>
> "Diesel vehicles are as efficient as all the hybrids," he said.
>
> Biodiesel costs co-op members about $3.50 a gallon, making it, for the
> moment at least, more expensive than conventional gasoline. But the
> co-op's planned mini-refinery would allow members to make biodiesel on
> their own, Pywell said, cutting costs to $1.50 a gallon.
>
> Pywell, an environmental engineering graduate student at the
> University of Florida, said the co-op helps people share resources and
> knowledge on issues like converting engines to run on unrefined waste
> oil. While a conversion kit on the Internet can cost $800, she said it
> was a minimal cost making the device on her truck.
>
> The system filters the oil twice through cut-up denim jeans to remove
> particles. The oil is then heated, thinning to a consistency better
> suited for engines.
>
> While there's lofty environmental and political reasons to support
> alternative fuels, Pywell said there's also more practical concerns.
>
> "We can meet our own energy needs. And that's enough," she said.
.
- References:
- Biodiesel: The Way to Go!
- From: Yik Yak
- Biodiesel: The Way to Go!
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