The Wonders of Biodiesel- Not only green but also smells of chips!
When the diesel engine was first developed in 1895, it was with the intention
of using various fuels to run it, including vegetable oil. Diesel made from vegetable
oil functions in the same way as conventional petrol diesel, can be used in an
unmodified diesel engine and the two can be mixed together. Basically, biodiesel
can be used in place of petrol diesel without any noticeable effects other than
the faint smell of chips, but with these added benefits:
* It is completely renewable - when one crop of plants has been used to produce
oil another can be grown in its place - not so for oil reserves. Carbon emissions
from biodiesel are not only lower than that of conventional diesel ( up to 100%),
but only carbon that has been absorbed by the plants that made it is released.
* It is biodegradable and non-toxic - safe to handle and safer to transport.
* Perhaps not the ideal of alternative fuels, carbon is still combusted and emitted,
but it is greener than petrol and diesel made from fossil fuels. And we can use
it NOW.
* Possibly the best thing about biodiesel: it does not require expensive or
advanced technology to run.
So why don't you see the biodiesel pump in petrol stations? Biodiesel is not produced
commercially in the UK, partly due to the fact that it has the same tax on it
as ordinary petrol, higher even than reduced-sulphur petrol and partly because
the government does not support its production. So far their main excuse has
been that we couldn't produce enough in this country to replace fossil fuels.
OK then...
But of course we could produce some cleaner fuel, which would cut the amount
conventional petrol and diesel used. Of course it would not be possible to run
all private cars on biodiesel in the same manner as they are used now, but buses
could be run with cleaner fuel. There are also statistics to show that biodiesel
made from oil palm could be grown on an area the size of 0.27%of Africa's land
surface which would meet the UK's yearly road fuel requirement, with the added
bonus of providing a viable export for the growers.
At the next budget, the tax on biodiesel will be reduced to 25p a litre, so some
progress is being made, but more needs to be done. If the tax were lower, or
non-existent, then more small business would be able to start making their own
fuel. Farmers, in great need of help at this time, could have a new source of
income, growing the crops and converting them into diesel, ready for use.
More than anything else, the fuel-buying public needs to be aware it exists.
The use of plant-based diesel in private cars still leaves a lot of problems
unsolved - road-building and car manufacture, and all the environmental pollutants
and people-unfriendly effects these industries bring with them, but it can improve
things drastically while other alternative technologies and ways of living are
being developed.
Debbie Woollaston