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Re: [RC] Biodiesel - Truman PrevattZephyr Arabians wrote:I don't think the environment impact of commercial biodiesel has been fully analyzed. For to plant enough beans to make much a dent in would require a large amount of fuel to plant and harvest. If the energy required to plant, fertilize, spray for bugs, etc. and then harvest and process the beans into biodiesel is less than is available in the fuel then there is a net gain to the environment. Factored into that has to be the impact of weather on crop yield a bad year it will take a lot more gallons of fuel to produce a gallon of biodiesel than a good year. If it takes more energy to produce biodiesel then the environmental impact (at least for greenhouse gases) would be a negative.FWIW, those people that make biodiesel themselves tend to use USED cooking oils. I believe the commercial manufacturers use fresh oils, but that's not nearly as conservation-minded as recycling previously cooked-with oils. Although both are still much better for the environment in terms of emissions than standard vehicle fuels. At some point we will see the numbers - all the numbers but as of yet I've not seen anyplace that where the full analysis has been done. Truman -- "Mathematics may be defined as the subject in which we never know what we are talking about, nor whether what we are saying is true." - Bertrand Russell =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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