Grow our own fuel?
It turns out that there are several approaches available to grow replacements for petroleum-based fuels. For example, most folks have heard of ethanol being promoted as a replacement for gasoline -- "gasohol". Did you know, though, that there are potenial replacements for diesel and for home heating fuel?
Growing our own fuel has at least four big benefits:
- Using these fuels has nearly a net-zero effect on the CO2 level of the atmosphere, since the carbon burned came from the atmosphere in the first place, as the plants created the fuels.
- Since these fuels typically are plant based and only subtly modified, if at all, they are biodegradable and have a lot smaller impact than petroleum-based fules on the environment in the event of spills.
- Petroleum can be used to generate much higher-value products and starting materials than just fuel; it is a shame to burn such lovely carbon compounds just to stay warm and move from point A to point B...
- We can grow our own. No need to be held hostage by other countries that don't necessarily have our best interests at heart.
Some recent articles I've read got me to thinking about all this, enough to do some searching on the web. I was pleased to see that there is quite a bit of information out there, and quite a bit known already. Examples include:
- Converting used frying oils -- normally waste products! -- into "biodiesel" using readily available materials and equipment.
- Converting diesel engines to use biodiesel fuel.
- Converting diesel engines to use "straight vegetable oil" (SVO) as fuel.
- Using ethanol instead of methanol to make biodiesel, and thus further reducing petroleum-derived products. (Methanol can be obtained from the "destructive distillation" of cellulose products such as wood, but I believe most methanol comes from petroleum- or natural gas-derived products; I need to check on this point.)
It looks as if it is really more a matter of will than research or development; if we wanted to grow our own fuels, we could. (That is, the process of sowing, harvesting, separating and using is well understood; I have no idea if indeed there is enough unused cropland available to grow enough to cover our energy needs.)
The following links are some that I've found through very simple and initial searches on the web.
- How to make your own "biodiesel". (A specific recipe can be found at this website.)
- These folks have created a practical, compact, commercial biodiesel processor that can make up to 500,000 gallons a year.
- Piedmont Biofuels already sells biodiesel made from waste vegetable oil. More power to them! I found them first through a reference to a blog about biofuels, with some interesting discussion about the more pressing need to address the fundamental issues of how much fuel one uses in the first place.
- Straight vegetable oil (SOV) requires less energy and effort to make available as fuel, and there are fewer side products (such as glycerine) to deal with. The engine needs to be modified differently, and the oil needs to be new (not used) and selected carefully. Here's how.
- Elsbett" is a German company that makes kits to convert diesel engines to both biodiesel and SVO.
- Information about US oilseed production.
- OK, so I'm a "Johnny Come Lately" on this topic! This column pushes hard on the need to grow our own fuel; it does focus on ethanol.
- This isn't just an issue for gas-guzzling America. South Africa is also taking notice.
Last updated 10 May 2005. No guarantee these links are still active.
