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170 messages, Last post on Jun 30, 2007 at 6:36 AM
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Replying to: sinepman (May 23, 2005 1:27 pm) |
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According to this website: http://www.local23.org/biodiesel/lifecyclesummary.htm ...for every gallon of petrodiesel burned, 2.2 gallons of fossil fuel (crude oil, presumably) are needed (1 gallon burned, plus 1.2 gallons needed to make that one gallon). I imagine gasoline requires even more crude as it's more complicated to refine than petrodiesel. By contrast, for every gallon of B100 burned, only 0.31 gallons of crude are needed. I imagine that can be reduced even more if biodiesel itself is used to fuel the harvesting, refining and distributing process. From what I understand, biodiesel from algae is the best hope for fueling the entire diesel fleet.
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Replying to: z28_sedan (May 24, 2005 2:26 pm) The studies are there saying just that. It is more likely we will be able to replace fossil fuel with biodiesel than hydrogen. No one has come up with an efficient, clean way to produce, store and transport hydrogen other than using nuclear power. Using solar to produce algae and subsequently biodiesel is more likely. I think we will see wide use of biodiesel long before we see hydrogen fuel cells.
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Replying to: gagrice (May 24, 2005 4:07 pm)
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Replying to: bhill2 (May 26, 2005 11:33 am) |
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Thermal depolymerization--it's a process that turns anything carbon based into gas, oil, and water. Tweaking the process can make his "oil" into a useful diesel. http://www.kantor.com/useful/thermo.shtml This could provide our mobility fuel needs from what we throw away right now--simply reprocessing our farm waste ( chaff, manure, etc ) would provide enough fuel for us to all get around. Now i'm even more determined to get a diesel next. dave |
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Replying to: Sylvia (May 25, 2004 11:20 am)
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Replying to: b0gman (Jun 03, 2005 8:45 am) |
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And according to Richardson at University VW and Audi, consumers want to use biodiesel. VW is the first automaker whose warranties allow biodiesel to be used. Other makers void warranties because of concerns about the purity and performance of anything less than 100 percent diesel. But Richardson, who is general manager, said his diesel models are flying off the lot. "The Northwest is kind of a hot market for this because people in the Northwest tend to be more forward-thinking," he said. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/230525_biofuel29.html |
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I’ve read most of the posts in this thread and really feel most of the drawbacks mentioned about biodiesel use are either acceptable or fixable. I used homemade biodiesel in a 1977 VW Rabbit Diesel for 3 years and never had a problem that could not be overcome. Below are the areas people were concerned about. Cost – This will always be a problem when purchasing anything from our petroleum manufacturers. Their profit is what causes the high costs. When I was making my own it cost about $.30 a gallon. So there is an alternative to the high price and it does not take much time or effort to refine the vegetable oil. Initial equipment costs are a little pricey, but pay for themselves in the first six months. Parts Deterioration – Rubber seals and hoses in the fuel delivery system may experience deterioration and should be replaced with third party fluroelastomer parts before the 100,000 mile point hits. It is the 10% - 20% alcohol content in biodiesel that causes the deterioration. If auto manufacturers are going to support biodiesel as an alternative fuel they should manufacture all OEM parts out of the fluroelastomer material instead of rubber anyway. They may already, but I bet we pay a lot more for them. Environment – These issues are very important to me, but I feel you have to weigh out everything involved. NOx output increase is the only drawback I have found personally, but my Rabbit, burning biodiesel, always passed emissions tests in Colorado’s “Front Range Emissions Area.” The damage caused by vegetable oil in land fills oozing into ground water is much more damaging to the environment. Anything we can do to lessen this problem is a BIG PLUS. Switching back to diesel – When I first started making biodiesel (when I used straight, refined vegetable oil) I had this problem. I ran low on fuel a long way from home and put regular diesel in the Rabbit. It ran terrible, but got me home. I found that you had to adjust your fuel settings differently when using the two different fuels. Well, I bought a book which explained that adding 10% alcohol to the mixture would make biodiesel run at the same mixture settings as diesel. I never had anymore problems switching between the two fuels. The smell – There really is no smell if the vegetable oil is properly scrubbed or washed during the refining process. When vehicles burning biodiesel give off a nasty smell, the operators need to get their fuel somewhere else or the person refining it needs a little education in a proper refining process. Cold weather gelling – We can get very cold winters here in central Colorado, but I never got stranded do to fuel gel. I knew in advance that vegetable oil start to gel right around 32 degrees F. The alcohol in biodiesel drops this a little too. During the winter, I used to fill to ¼ tank with winterized diesel then fill the last ¾ with biodiesel and never got stranded. If it gets to subzero temps you may want to consider a half and half or higher mixture or even running straight diesel. I never had to do this though. Well, 6 months ago the Rabbit died with 320,000 miles on it and my new car burns gasoline so I haven’t made biodiesel since then. When I get the new truck I want, I will be making it again. |
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