Biofuels Facts – Page 8 – BioFuelsFacts.com

On The Biofuel Debate

The Facts Biofuel, Biofuels, Hugo Chavez, Jeffrey Sachs, Paul Krugman 0 Comment

Every opinion on a subject is biased by your own background. On the biofuel debate, I tend to go for a contrarian approach. There is so much resistance against bio fuel that I think, why don’t we give it a go.

Who are involved in the debate: defenders of the poor (Jean Ziegler) a United Nation’s independent expert on the Right to Food: Biofuel is a crime against humanity. Or Paul Krugman (economist): “we … need a pushback against biofuels, which turn out to have been a terrible mistake.” (1) Or another economist Jeffrey Sachs – “European efforts to promote biofuels should be rethought because of the contribution they have made to rising food prices” (2)

Or … a Nobel laureate has cautioned the government against rushing into biofuel development because there’s little energy to be gained from it. Dr. Hartmut Michel, the 1998 Nobel Prize winner for chemistry… said investing in biofuel development was “counterproductive.When you calculate how much of the sun’s energy is stored in the plants, it’s below one percent, when you convert into biofuel, you add fertilizer, and then harvest the plants. There’s not real energy gained in biofuel,” (3)

Fidel Castro, or … Hugo Chavez: “Venezuelan petrotyrant Hugo Chavez has renewed his denunciations of biofuels.”

Instead, crops like corn meant for food production will be diverted to create more biofuels so that ‘illogical, absurd and stupid capitalism can continue its voracious growth,’ the Venezuelan leader said. (source, search for: venezuela-chavez-warns-of-biofuel)

Pro biofuel is of course: the president of Brazil, Lula da Silva who said that opposing biodiesel would be crime against humanity

And than … President Bush backs biodiesel: … “touted biodiesel as a key component of his plan to confront high fuel prices … if you depend on foreign pertroleum, you have a big national security problem…”

And all the CEO of energy companies … In Spain only the bioindustry has invested about 4 billion euros in plants that are not productive and waiting for a solution…

Those who are against may have a founded reason.

At least now that the food prices are rising, whether it is due to biofuel or not, people seem to care for the poor and developing countries.

My opinion on the biodiesel debate is this: perhaps now it is not efficient to produce biodiesel, but I think it is one of the innovations that costs money and is a product-in-the-make. How eventually the biofuel will be produced will still be uncertain, but somehow we have taken a first step and that must be ok, otherwise it would have been taken. The current resistance from all places including Brazil against a possible deforestation will help to lead the discussion in the right direction.

This is one of those changes where (current) resistance is productive.

(1) – http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/07/opinion/07krugman.html?incamp=article_popular_2)

(2) – (ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42247)

(3) – http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080114-112152/Rethink-biofuel-says-Nobel-laureate)

Hans Bool

Hans Bool writes articles about management, culture and change. If you are interested to read or experience more about these topics have a look at: Astor White.

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Bio Diesel Production How It’s Made

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Bio Diesel Production How Is It Made
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Biodiesel Equipment To Provide New Business Opportunities

Future Of Biofuels Biodiesel, Biodiesel Equipment, Biodiesel Wash, Business Opportunities 0 Comment

If you want your business to take the right approach to environmental issues, you need proper Biodiesel Equipment to match up to the fuel needs. Most people use biodiesel because it provides an alternative to the standard fuel crisis and has its own specific set of advantages. If you are setting up a Biodiesel Plant, you would also need the entire set of machinery and tools for pre and post processing functions. The concept of Biodiesel Wash also needs to be utilized for filtering and purification of the product before it is used for fueling the engines or sent out for sale to other companies.

One of the most important aspects of running a company is to monitor the fuel costs that might have a significant effect on the budgeting process. If you have the right equipment, you can produce an alternate fuel source that offers greater engine performance and helps you create an environment friendly profile for your company.

Not only would it reduce your need for conventional oil supplies, it can also turn out to be a revenue generator if you plan to sell it to other companies. A Biodiesel Plant is a prerequisite for such purposes and all techniques such as Biodiesel Wash and other procedures should be handled by professionals to achieve the highest level of efficiency.

Lots of people are shifting to different forms of biodiesel to reduce health hazards and pollutions to people who work with running engines. Once you set up such a a plant, you would be able to dispose animal fat and other substances, creating something productive such as fuel. Properly created biodiesel, combined with additional treatment procedures such as Bio-diesel Wash can produce extremely low quality sulphur, greenhouse gas and particle emissions as compared to the common fuels. It depends on the quality of the equipment and the vendor from whom such produces are purchased.

Before you make the switch to the environmental side, you need to make sure that you have the right facility for technical wash and other treatments along with the proper machinery. If you plan to buy processing units or an entire processing set from a vendor, you should look for high quality assembling and finish. Your plant should also live up to the set industrial standards and maintain the safety protocols that are required. The equipment should be able to handle different types of feed stock and have flexibility so it can be used according to your specific needs.

Apart from the general specifications, the vendor itself should have experience and reputation in the manufacturing of such processors for such a plant. The vendor should incorporate the most cost effective mechanisms on the machinery so your profit margins start to increase. You should also look for processors with automated solution options for such technical washes and other procedures so everything can be done in a quick and smooth fashion. If you like the overall quality and performance of the machinery and receive proper vendor support for it through an extended period of time, Biodiesel Equipment could turn out to be a very wise investment for the financial future of your company.

This Article is written by Rimi Smith. For more about Animal Fat Biodiesel, UCO Biodiesel, Biorefining process & Biodiesel pre-treatment, please visit http://www.ageratec.com/ .

Learn About The History Of Biofuel Cars

The Facts biofuel cars, Biofuel Cars Biofuel, Henry Ford, oil companies, petroleum industry 0 Comment

Biofuel has been around for long than any of us have been alive. Indeed, the first diesel cars were designed to run on peanut oil in the 1880s!

Rupert Diesel could even be considered one of the fathers of environmental awareness since he wanted to prove that automobiles didn’t have to depend on fossil fuels, so those diesel engines ran on peanut oil for the next 40 years.

Even Henry Ford mass-produced biofuel cars, beginning with the 1908 Model T Ford, and owned his own ethanol plant. 25% of the fuel sold by Standard Oil was biofuel. Eventually hemp became one of the main resources used for biofuels production since it produced so much more fuel than did peanut oil.

Unfortunately, the growing oil industry decided that petroleum based products were ‘better’…even though they weren’t…and, through aggressive marketing, convinced people that oil and gas were better and cheaper.

When they began demonizing hemp as “the evils of marijuana” – even though the hemp used in biofuels production wouldn’t get anyone high – it was the beginning of the end. Up until that point, hemp usage had been legal in the United States. After the oil companies got through with their intense marketing, the biodiesel industry collapsed in the 1930s.

After World War II, petroleum companies also started buying up trolley car lines, which ran on electricity, and replacing them with buses running on diesel, and pushed for new highways. The boom following World War II led to an explosion of car purchases – all running on petroleum-based products, not biofuels.

What the oil companies didn’t recognize then was that non-renewal energy sources are finite. That we would run out of oil. That we would become dependent on foreign old resources only 40 years later… and not be able to control foreign oil forever. After all, what are a few decades when they were getting rich then?

Now the auto industry is coming around full circle as public demand for more environmentally friendly cars that use renewable energy sources. Jeep Grand Cherokees and Dodge RAM trucks are among the 2008 vehicles that are designed to run on biofuels. Flex-fuel and hybrid cars also are being sold in greater numbers, and all US cars sold since 2000 can run n a combination of gas and biofuels.

Of course, the petroleum industry still fights back, coming up with reports claiming that petroleum is better for car engines than biofuels, an approach that is disputed by many other studies. But by 1985, all cars in Brazil could run on biofuels. Many other countries have been turning to biofuels over the past 20 years and, unlike in the United States, biofuels are available at most service stations across Europe.

There are currently several hundred major fleets of biofuels vehicles – cars, buses, and vans – in the United States, including fleets used by the military, the US Postal Service, and many transit systems.

So, while the petroleum industry fights to keep their control over the fuel industry, it looks like the history of biofuels cars, while shunted aside for a while, is still be written.

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