What can you tell me about Biodiesel?

2 Comments

1. Kyle M says:

   March 21, 2010 at 7:57 am

   1. Biodiesel does not compare with traditional gasoline. It is an adequate replacement for petroleum based diesel, but not for gasoline.
   2. Availibity varies by location and time of year.
   3. Biodiesel typically costs more than petro-diesel, though it is less sensitive to price swings and is occasionally cheaper or competitive. It is additionally eligible for various subsidies and tax credits.
   4. The US government and state governments are making a push for domestic biofuel production, through the above mentioned subsidies and other policies in pursuit of energy independence, economic development and environmental sustainability.

   5. Biodiesel is produced from oilseeds or related crops (including soy and sunflowers for example) and can be sown in the same kinds of fields that you grow food in (though not at the same time, of course).
   6. Biodiesel has approximately 85% of the potential chemical energy as petrodiesel, so will be consumed faster at a given speed or load.
   7. Different precursor oil crops have different yields and risks.
   8. Provided the sun keeps shining and there is farmland somewhere, we won’t run out. Remember that the amount we can produce is fairly limited (by available farmland).

   All in all, biodiesel is an interesting concept, but one which does not promise to solve any major problems- if all our farmland were devoted to fuel crops rather than for food, we’d still not cover even a small portion of our motor fuels needs.

   The remaining questions are off topic and should be asked in the appropriate venue.
2. worldemperor says:

   March 21, 2010 at 7:57 am

   You will kill our earth with that stuff. Deforestation diesel…