Comments on: Advantages of Biodiesel Fuel for Transportation

By: Max N

Max N — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 06:39:25 +0000

I’m offering information I’ve read to the deforestation/foot shortage comments. Camelina seems to be a promising crop as it is not a food crop, and can be utilized in crop rotation, which (in my non-agriculturally experienced opinion) not only prevents a farmer from having to choose between growing food (not that they have much choice anymore, but I digress) and growing fuel.
I don’t know much about crop rotation however, and if two food crops are generally alternated then planting a biofuel crop would encroach on that.

I don’t know, just a thought.

By: Nicholas

Nicholas — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 02:50:11 +0000

First off the growing population will destroy the forests and all with or without the help of biodiesel production in the traditional two ways: A.) More people needing more space for the growing population to live and work B.) Needing more farms to feed the growing population. Some have said the only good thing from all these wars is population control… agree or not doesn’t matter… The answer to over farming the world through cutting down forests is a simple answer and a little easier to accept than the whole population control idea; and all we have to look to is our cities for the answer.

First off the roofs of city buildings don’t have to be nothing but tar and gravel…they can be green fields or farm lands some cities have already started trying and have had multiple benefits. Some ways that these changed roofs have helped is with rain water management and a not so expected benefit is cooler temperatures around the city… which for the immediate buildings with these roofs mean lower cooling costs in the summer. Second, people have thought of (but as far as I know never implemented) the idea of skyscraper farms. Yes I said that…a building that is used for farming on each level, not for housing or businesses. It would be a multi-story greenhouse that can have control over temperature/humidity/lighting. We can have crops for food and crops to make into bio-fuels (diesel and ethanol) and all can easily be responsibly managed. Also any company that has found to be fraudulent should be exposed to the extent of the fraud and those within that company that put forth the fraud should be fired so the company can repair itself. If the whole company lied then it should be left to fail. ALSO, anyone that thinks that any answer can be implemented the day after or even fully within a year are still smoking the weed from the 60’s, we all must let the companies get the new technology in and any bugs worked out of them before they can fully give up on old methods like with the coal using power plants.

Anyone who has two brain cells left in their head knows oil won’t be the answer forever and new ways must be developed. One thing that has to be developed is the transitional technologies and infa-structures for those technologies.

If there is one thing I do know; its that I won’t be standing on the sidelines complaining about it. I’ll be involved in trying to make the change to a greener future. What are you going to do.

By: mihkel

mihkel — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:42:19 +0000

Bio-diesel can not be environmentally friendly, if the material for producing it is grown by farmers, because it leads to deforestation/desertification and food shortage. + the fact that internal combustion engines are a waste of energy has been too much overlooked.

By: Justin

Justin — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:45:08 +0000

Yeah, and then the Alabama company (Cello) is found to be fraudulent!

By: Neal Hazen

Neal Hazen — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 04:54:16 +0000

Right here in little ol’ Baldwin County, Alabama two brothers have your solution. They have designed built, and are running a full-scale biodiesel plant that uses grasses and municipal wastes to make biodiesel. Old rubber tires can also be used, but doing so is a bit harder. The biodiesel being produced can be made for under $1.00 a gallon. A little tweaking of the process can yield kerosene, or even gasoline, as the end product. Another bonus is that these products are far cleaner than those made from fossil fuels.

The current U.S. consumption of oil and natural gas for energy can be effectively replaced by such plants using an estimated 20% of currently produced municipal waste being used as feedstock.

The process used in Baldwin County is “Carbon Neutral”, as is. However, if the biodiesel were used in a fuel cell the carbon emissions would be both far less, and nearly completely capturable. The captured carbon could then be used as a feedstock in numerous commercial processes.

You can imagine the impact this technology – when fully implemented – will have on landfills.

By: Gregory Phortbain

Gregory Phortbain — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 19:22:41 +0000

Bio diesel is not as environmentally friendly as people would like you to believe. Many acres of forest will be cut down so farmers can grow bio fuel and to effectively produce bio fuel in way that could effectively replace fossil fuels you’d have to harness about 20% of the worlds photo voltaic energy.

By: Dragoness

Dragoness — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:17:33 +0000

Automobile maufacturers that make trucks/rigs that run on diesel should be modifying their engines so that they run on biodiesel. Much of the harmful emissions that are in the atmosphere come from the transport industry. It may be a costly endeavor, but I believe it would be worthwhile.