Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I think the best thing that can be said about E85 or biodiesel is helps 
the farmer. I probably doesn't do much for the environment. It probably 
doesn't do much for our dependence on foreign oil. We have plenty of oil 
reserves and with oil at 60 to 70 bucks a barrel - there is more 
exploratory now than in the last 40 years. Most of the reserves are deep 
water and expensive to get out but at 60 to 70 bucks a barrel they are 
now feasible. Oil shale converted to oil is not economically feasible as 
is oil extracted from coal - the US has huge coal reserves.

Burning of any hydrocarbon fuel - be it from oil, coal, natural gas, or 
vegetable oil produces greenhouse gases.  While vegetable is cleaner 
when it comes to sulphur - per cal it produces the same amount of 
greenhouse gas as does oil. Sulphur can be removed both prior to the 
buning and after the burning. CO2 cannot currently be removed.

The way to help the environment is not to put CO2 into the air from 
vegetable oil vs. oil from beneath the ground, but to develop multiple 
sources of energy. If we went to nuclear energy for electric production 
we would put a big dent in our use of oil. However, that some delicate 
points that need to be worked.

It's fine if a person wants to refine their own diesel fuel from used 
oil they get at Burger King. However, that's not the solution to our 
long term energy requirements nor is the solution to global warming and 
per calorie biodiesel burned to move their truck down the road they are 
putting the same number of moles of CO2 into the air as the buy burning 
diesel fuel refined from peterolum.

Truman

Zephyr Arabians wrote:

> I guess my general point -- which was lost in the
> message -- was that those who make their own biodiesel
> out of recycled cooking oil are to be commended.  They
> may not be making a huge impact with a single vehicle,
> but they're at least doing *something.* 
>
> I don't see commercial biodiesel as the answer to
> dependance on fossil fuels, but one alternative source
> need not be the 100% solution to be a good thing.  Or
> at least heading in the right direction.
>
> Anyway, to reiterate, I was reading all these posts
> about *commercial* biodiesel -- and the very valid
> points about needing to grow the crops -- but, my post
> was *supposed* be just a note commenting on "homemade
> biodiesel" since it does not depend on new crops, but
> rather recycles veggie oil that's already been used.
>
> ~Nicole
>
>
>  


--

"Mathematics may be defined as the subject in which we never know what 
we are talking about, nor whether what we are saying is true."  - 
Bertrand Russell




=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=