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The adoption of biodiesel and its integration within our society face a number of complex, interdependent or exclusive challenges. While there is, as yet, only a limited amount of comprehensively researched data available, many factors are changing in favour of biodiesel fuel. Just 10 years ago, widespread adoption of biodiesel as an alternative fuel mode seemed unlikely, but that situation is certainly changing fast.
We are all becoming very aware how traditional fossil fuels have caused damage and become a great concern for the future. Greenhouse gases associated with the production of petroleum and our other energy needs are causing a highly detrimental change to our planet’s average temperature. Climate change is already leading to weather pattern alterations that could potentially cause devastating problems to future generations. We know that we must make changes and reduce our reliance on these traditional forms, yet to this point change has been slow to come. Challenges to the very way that we exist are difficult to contemplate and if we must make changes, we prefer to do it without incurring additional economic costs. It seems clear that to adopt alternative ways of producing and using energy will result in competitive disadvantage, if compared to communities or economies that do not.
Environmentalists assure us that unless we act now, harm will become irreversible. Consequently, governments are starting to consider taxation of carbon itself, forcing organisations through market pressures to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and increase their energy efficiency. This could help to balance the playing field for biodiesel fuel. If traditional petroleum fuels become even more expensive due to carbon related costs, biodiesel fuel will become more palatable.
Society will exert its own pressures and will move toward options that are seen to be far “greener” than they are now. Biodiesel fuels may represent a premium over alternatives and may be more difficult to find, but nevertheless a trend toward them will begin. Ways of making biodiesel will be explored and commercial solutions will begin to spring up in more and more places.
Farmers have been worried about declining demand for their products in recent times. As homemade biodiesel relies on vegetable oils or surplus oils and animal fats, crop producers could find a ready market for soybeans, for example providing the raw material essential for the production of the fuel. This in turn would help to keep revenues from the production and sale of fuel within our communities, rather than distributing these revenues overseas. By the 2020s, fully two thirds of the revenues associated with fuel purchase could be filtering its way to foreign countries, unless we’re careful.
Sustainability is going to be a very hot topic during this new decade. The biodiesel industry will be very much to the fore. With so much at stake, not only with respect to the long term financial stability of our country, but also the priceless global sustainability which could be achieved, can any of us really afford to continue to wait until someone in power makes a decision?
If you sometimes sit back in your chair and watch, with an element of incredulity, the violence that inevitably breaks out whenever climate related political summits occur, then you can see an element of the tension that is slowly but surely building up around the world. Now we are coming to understand how unsustainable our lives are. Nobody can justify this kind of violence, and it makes us think how these individuals can be so angry and driven, but then when we look at all the material that scientists now give us and realise that our crazy lifestyles really are alien to the sustainable future of our planet. Most of us realise that we now need to aggressively cut down on our energy use, both individually and collectively, and to take a major element of responsibility for what we do. Greenhouse gases are building up in our atmosphere due to our use of those traditional fossil fuels – gas, coal and oil, raising our Earth’s temperature and threatening considerable harm to future generations unless we act quickly.
Politicians are slow as usual and we cannot understand why they are not acting more quickly. Recent and crucial talks in Copenhagen resulted in only moderate agreement and few, tangible results. As individuals, we all know that we can make a difference if we take action and really focus on how we use transportation on a daily basis. We have been told for years to try and carpool, to use public transportation, to use bicycles or even to walk to work. If environmental reasons are not enough to cause us to constrain our use, we should remember the events of 2008 when gasoline prices spiked considerably.
The vehicles that we use to get around are big polluters of the environment and in the United States in particular, those “gas guzzlers” are very slow to go away. Once, it was acceptable to drive the lumbering, cumbersome and thirsty vehicle, especially when gasoline was much less than a dollar per gallon.
Now we know that biodiesel fuel represents a much more palatable option. It is derived from widely available agricultural sources. The product is made with leftover fat or vegetable oil and mixed with methanol for separation. If you are suitably inclined, making biodiesel at home is a good option. As a rule of thumb, homemade biodiesel in undiluted form can be used in your diesel engine vehicle with no additional effort, but many vehicles use a blend of conventional petrodiesel and biodiesel, called B20, B40, etc.
Bio diesel may be yet to catch on in popular opinion, but as we look at ways to cut back, think about hybrid vehicles and ways to live our lives in more sustainable fashion, more and more emphasis will be put on renewable energy forms. When this special fuel does eventually become widely available to people all around the world, we will have a much better chance at slowing the incredible rate of global ecological change.
There is a question whether we, as a society, will adopt biodiesel and we need to address a number of complex and sometimes related challenges first. We are restricted by a limited amount of comprehensive data research, but nevertheless many factors are in favour of biodiesel fuel. Just 10 years ago, widespread adoption of biodiesel as an alternative fuel mode seemed unlikely, but that situation is certainly changing fast.
We are all becoming very aware how traditional fossil fuels have caused damage and become a great concern for the future. When petroleum is made, greenhouse gases are guaranteed and we now know how this is affecting the planet’s average annual temperature. This type of climate change is leading to results that we can already see and we can be very worried about the problems that could face future generations. We know that we must make changes and reduce our reliance on these traditional forms, yet to this point change has been slow to come. We often do not like changes and challenges to the way that we exist and we certainly do not like additional economic costs associated. However, adopting alternative energy production processes and consumption patterns may put us at competitive disadvantage compared to countries that do not.
Environmentalists assure us that unless we act now, harm will become irreversible. Consequently, governments are starting to consider taxation of carbon itself, forcing organisations through market pressures to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and increase their energy efficiency. This could help to balance the playing field for biodiesel fuel. If traditional petroleum fuels become even more expensive due to carbon related costs, biodiesel fuel will become more palatable.
Further to that, as society becomes increasingly more worried about climate change, it is likely to turn toward measures and solutions that are seen as being far “greener.” Biodiesel fuels may represent a premium over alternatives and may be more difficult to find, but nevertheless a trend toward them will begin. Ways of making biodiesel will be explored and commercial solutions will begin to spring up in more and more places.
Our agricultural producers have been worried about a decline in demand for their goods in recent years. These days, homemade biodiesel can be made from vegetable oils and surplus oils, together with animal fats and soybeans, for example could easily provide the raw material needed to produce the fuel. Wouldn’t it be nice to keep the revenues from production and sale of our fuels within our communities and keep them from flooding overseas? By the 2020s, fully two thirds of the revenues associated with fuel purchase could be filtering its way to foreign countries, unless we’re careful.
Sustainability is going to be a very hot topic during this new decade. The biodiesel industry will be very much to the fore. With so much at stake, not only with respect to the long term financial stability of our country, but also the priceless global sustainability which could be achieved, can any of us really afford to continue to wait until someone in power makes a decision?
If you sometimes sit back in your chair and watch, with an element of incredulity, the violence that inevitably breaks out whenever climate related political summits occur, then you can see an element of the tension that is slowly but surely building up around the world. We are simply coming to terms with just how unsustainable our lives really are. Such anger and violence may be alien to most of us and we could wonder what drives these people to be so impassioned, but when we concentrate on some of the scientific evidence now available, we can see how our extravagant lifestyles and requirements are at odds with the planet. Most of us realise that we now need to aggressively cut down on our energy use, both individually and collectively, and to take a major element of responsibility for what we do. Greenhouse gases are building up in our atmosphere due to our use of those traditional fossil fuels – gas, coal and oil, raising our Earth’s temperature and threatening considerable harm to future generations unless we act quickly.
Politicians are slow as usual and we cannot understand why they are not acting more quickly. Recent and crucial talks in Copenhagen resulted in only moderate agreement and few, tangible results. Each one of us has to take action and we are aware, for example, that we need to cut back on our transportation needs. Public transportation is very underused and we tend to scoff at the idea of carpooling, riding a bicycle, or even walking! Most of us are not sufficiently aware of environmental reasons to cut back on energy use, even though we recently saw just how volatile the supply chain can be during 2008, when gasoline prices went through the roof.
Our cars, trucks and buses are huge polluters of the environment and the automotive industry in the United States in particular is slow to shrug off the vestiges of an era when gas guzzlers were totally acceptable. It used to be okay to drive a car that was way too big, cumbersome and inefficient for our actual needs and as much as anything else, when gas was only 50 or 60 cents per gallon.
It seems that biodiesel fuel is a much brighter option for the future. It is derived from widely available agricultural sources. It is produced by mixing vegetable oil or leftover fats with methanol through separation. With a little bit of application and ingenuity, making biodiesel at home is a very viable solution. Generally, homemade biodiesel, as B100, can be used in your diesel engine vehicle with no modification, although a majority of vehicles these days operate on a blend of biodiesel and conventional petrol diesel (B20, B40 and so on).
Bio diesel may be yet to catch on in popular opinion, but as we look at ways to cut back, think about hybrid vehicles and ways to live our lives in more sustainable fashion, more and more emphasis will be put on renewable energy forms. When this special fuel does eventually become widely available to people all around the world, we will have a much better chance at slowing the incredible rate of global ecological change.