The picture shows a home Bio Diesel production kit, and in a sense that's where our nation is in the production of Bio Diesel. But according to the article at AutoBlog, there is one firm that's stepping up production of Bio Diesel blended with petrolium Diesel. It's a step in the right direction and that's a great thing. But I have a couple of minor issues with this.
The Company is an Oil company, and is blending Bio Diesel with Petro Diesel, and while that may be necessary to get the ball rolling, the real key to Bio Diesel is it's ability to burn cleaner in exhisting Diesel engines with no modification, while producing slightly more power. The only benefit of blending Bio/Petro Diesel is a more reasonable gel temp, and since it's Spring that's less of an issue. But I'm picking here, so I'll compromise on this point.
Now here's another problem, the company is partially Saudi owned. Now one big plus of bio fuels to me, is the chance to reduce dependance on foreign fuel sources. Why can't American firms make the investment? So far it's a French firm making Ethanol in the Midwest, and Importing Ethanol from Brazil and now a Saudi oil company. Are we just replacing one foreign dependance for another? Maybe I'm making to much of it.
Each step towards cleaner burning sustainable fuels is a good one, and if it's foreign investment that gets the ball rolling, so be it.
1 comment:
Good for you starting this blog, BFF. But your innocence is showing. That's OK, as the son of the original MotherMopar, I've been a car guy all my life, and it was just last week that I was researching the difference between FE, MEL and 385 engines.
In any event, I'm working on a whole series of posts on alternative fuels on my own blog. The first can be found here.
Another, on home-brewed biodiesel, is coming shortly. But please be advised that home biodiesel plants are nothing new. But this one looks like a simpler, cheaper alternative.
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