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Date:         Wed, 12 May 2004 14:12:24 -0400
Reply-To:     Jonathan Farrugia <jfarrugi@UMICH.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jonathan Farrugia <jfarrugi@UMICH.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Diesels on NPR this morning
Comments: To: Steven Dodson <steven@EPOCHDESIGN.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <CHEMIOFEMIHINDCEBODPOEKIDIAA.steven@epochdesign.com>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

i've done a bit of research on this topic recently. i have as of yet after pages and pages of reading not been able to find a reference that says that burning "cooking oil" has really bad emissions. i have found a fair amount of material that supports the claim that burning "raw plant oil" is not clean and is detrimental to equipment. from what i have read "raw plant oil" is considered to be the oil that comes directly from the first pressing process. cooking oil is refined past that in most parts of the world. if anyone has information in reguards to this i would be very interested to know about it.

jonathan

On Wed, 12 May 2004, Steven Dodson wrote:

> If you read up on refining biodiesel, you'll find that the byproduct is > simply a biodegradable vegetable glycerin. > This glycerin can be composted and may serve as a fertilizer for the plants > grown to produce the next batch of fuel. The glycerin can also be used to > make soaps. As far as power plants burning biological material, "biological > material" or "renewable fuels" can mean anything. Raw vegetable oil is not > very clean when burned, contrary to the "greasels" out there. Same with > burning straight crude vs refined petroleum. Once the vegetable oil is > transesterified (refined), it is very clean burning and the byproduct is > inert. You won't get much better than that until we're electrolyzing > hydrogen from water using solar power. It's pretty expensive to run an > economy on subsidized agriculture. Biodiesel is a good start and much better > than the Bush plan to make hydrogen from petroleum. My goal is to not have > any gas consuming vehicles by this time next year. > > -Steven Dodson > Kneeland, CA > "Inga" the 87 Syncro > > -----Original Message----- > Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 23:52:53 -0400 > From: Joy Hecht <jhecht@ALUM.MIT.EDU> > Subject: Re: Diesels on NPR this morning > > There is a question, though, about what kind of biological material is used > to make the fuel. I don't know how auto fuel is made, but with power plants > that burn biological material, it's not clear that they are that much better > than petroleum. They put out GHG emissions, and if the fuel isn't grown > organically, its cultivation generates a lot of water pollution from ag > runoff. Is the biological matter used to make biodiesel the waste from some > other ag process or grown specifically for fuel? In the former case, what > is now done with that waste. If it's excess nutrients that we've found a > new use for, great. But if it was returned to the soil to enrich it for > future agriculture, then we'll have to replace it. If it was grown just for > making fuel, then how? Growing biofuels organically is pretty expensive. > > All of which isn't to say that they aren't a good idea, just that they may > not be financially viable, and they also may not be environmentally > preferable to the alternatives. > > Joy >


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