Biodiesel vehicles - READ ONLY

170 messages, Last post on Jun 30, 2007 at 6:36 AM

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#81 of 170 Biodiesel gains more believers by gagrice Jan 30, 2005 (9:50 pm)
"When you burn biodiesel ... it's much less smoky, it's better for the engine, it keeps it clean," he said. "It's pretty neat." Since the Exxon station's switch in April from regular diesel to biodiesel, customers like Shimar Recycling have driven sales of the fuel up 70 percent, said Edward Holmes, president of gas station owner Holmes Oil Co. The station was the second in the area to offer fuel made from biodiesel to individual consumers. On Tuesday, B20 was selling there for $2.05 a gallon. "We've had a lot of positive customer responses to it," Holmes said. "It's brought new customers to the site that otherwise would not have come there." http://newsobserver.com/news/ncwire_news/story/2071183p-8453784c.- html
#82 of 170 What is the net energy yield of biodiesel? by bhill2 Jan 31, 2005 (12:55 pm)
I heard somewhere (OK. it was West Wing) that the energy used to grow the feedstock for ethanol was so great that using it in place of gasoline yielded essentially no reduction in crude oil usage (or, presumably, greenhouse gasses.) Anyone know how biodiesel from purpose-grown crops stacks up on this issue? Obviously, using recycled oil from restaurants etc. will have a net benefit, but if biodiesel becomes anything like popular this will quickly become a comparatively minor source of it. Replies to this message: gagrice (Jan 31, 2005 10:46 pm) turbobiodiesel (Mar 01, 2005 11:51 pm)
#83 of 170 Re: What is the net energy yield of biodiesel? [bhill2] by gagrice Jan 31, 2005 (10:46 pm)
Replying to: bhill2 (Jan 31, 2005 12:55 pm) There is no comparison between Ethanol and biodiesel. Ethanol is not a good fuel. It is used as an oxygenator to make gas burn cleaner. It also lowers the mileage of cars giving little if any gain. As close as I can tell it is just corporate welfare for companies like ADM. Biodiesel can be run in diesel engines in any mixture up to 100% biodiesel. It is very safe to transport. It can be made from several different crops including algae. It does have a tax incentive to make it more competitive against fossil fuel. As long as oil is as cheap as it is now under $75 per barrel, alternatives are not that great of a deal. You can collect old cooking oil and easily process it for use as engine fuel. It is reported that you can do that for less than 60 cents per gallon. Sounds a bit messy to me...
#84 of 170 west wing by drpharmdog Feb 01, 2005 (9:30 am)
check ethanol.org they have a link that talks about what was said on west wing. i think bio-diesel is great and so is ethanol..creating jobs in the mid-west and ect. if there was ethanol gas here in florida i'd love to put it in my honda insight.. Replies to this message: gagrice (Feb 01, 2005 5:30 pm)
#85 of 170 Ethanol by yerth10 Feb 01, 2005 (11:49 am)
Actually Sugarcane yields more Ethanol than Corn and so the net energy output (output - input) is be higher in that. Brazil is a big-time producer of Cane-Ethanol. Even if Corn-Ethanol has low net energy output, it may use lesser Oil (since electricity is also used to make the fuel) and hence the overall cost may not be that much. Every year, US & Brazil are using few billion gallons of Ethanol and that is why Oil prices are at 45, otherwise it may be 55. So its good to continue using Ethanol as a hedge / backup fuel. All Gasolene vehicles sold in USA can run on fuel containing 10 % Ethanol, so when Oil prices goes beyond a cetain level, you can see the Ethanol usage also going up. Bio-Diesel is also progressing slowly. As Oil prices continue to rise, its natural that these alternatives come into play.
#86 of 170 Re: west wing [drpharmdog] by gagrice Feb 01, 2005 (5:30 pm)
Replying to: drpharmdog (Feb 01, 2005 9:30 am) if there was ethanol gas here in florida i'd love to put it in my honda insight.. Welcome to Edmund's forum. I think you would find that the gas tainted with ethanol would lower your mileage. It seems to go just about straight across the board. With 5% ethanol you get about 5% lower mileage. What it does do is make gas burn cleaner. In CA they wanted to get something to replace that nasty old MTBE and ethanol is what they chose. Not sure of the long term side effects that will have.
#87 of 170 Biodiesel promoters and soybean growers butting heads by larsb Feb 02, 2005 (10:32 am)
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,66455,00.html/wn_asci- i Replies to this message: gagrice (Feb 02, 2005 11:53 am)
#88 of 170 Re: Biodiesel promoters and soybean growers butting heads [larsb] by gagrice Feb 02, 2005 (11:53 am)
Replying to: larsb (Feb 02, 2005 10:32 am) Interesting article. It kind of portrays the overall battle going on in environmental circles. It is a result of every action causing a re-action. I thought I was a web surfer. You come up with some good stuff on a regular basis. My hat is off to you! PS I still like diesel better than hybrid.
#89 of 170 Veggie oil converting to biodiesel in a factory by larsb Feb 02, 2005 (12:59 pm)
Another very cool company which takes veggie oil and converts it to biodiesel at their factory: "We take (nearly any type of) vegetable oil and process it for use in any diesel engine," Sinoncelli said. "The diesel engine was originally designed to run on vegetable oil, and was later adapted to run on diesel fuel, which was at the time a by-product of gasoline. So what we do is modify the vegetable oil so it mimics the density of diesel fuel to run in today's diesel engines." The firm uses mostly oils rejected for human consumption by the USDA, he said." http://www.timesheraldonline.com/Stories/0,1413,296~31519~2687732- - - - ,00.html
#90 of 170 Re: MPG'S THAT ARE REAL FOR ME! [blueiedgod] by gagrice Feb 21, 2005 (8:09 am)
Buy a diesel and make your own or buy Biodiesel, which benefits US farmers. Put your money where your mouth is!!!! I am 100% behind this idea. In CA we are held back from buying high mileage diesel cars by a few people in the government that think they are doing us a favor. When I retire to my home in Hawaii I will buy a diesel car for there. They are big on biodiesel in the islands.