The Biofuel Question

I have done tons of research on biofuel and have encountered some very interesting information. No matter how much research I conduct, I will not be awarded any fancy PhD or anything; however, I definitely feel very informed in this subject. Heck, I have even composed a file of roughly seventy pages that outline different areas of biofuel technology.

A biofuel is a form of alternative energy that is grown from crops and can be used in place of fossil fuels. Because biofuels are essentially grown from the ground, they are considered to be a renewable resource. The United States federal government currently provides several incentives for industries to produce biofuels. In fact, the diesel fuel at your typical gas station is a blend of both petroleum diesel and biodiesel. Biodiesel is a biofuel because it is made from vegetable oil that goes through a transestrification process. But it is not just diesel engines that use biofuel. Unleaded gasoline is typically mixed with ethanol. These blends some of which have been governmentally mandated, have tried to reduce our oil dependency; however, they nearly scrape the surface of the problem.

For one, straight vegetable oil as a biofuel has been prohibited by the federal government. The Environmental Protection Agency through the Clean Air Act has established standards that make it illegal to fuel your vehicle off straight vegetable oil (SVO). However, many Americans use SVO illegally and several citizens from other countries have used SVO quite successfully. Several tests have been conducted in Japan which indicate that Straight Vegetable Oil is a environmentally healthy form of fuel…and what’s more it is practically free. Restaurants dump millions of gallons of vegetable oil into landfills which can further harm the environment. When vegetable oil is discarded, it is often referred to as waste vegetable oil. As a result, most restaurants will happily give you their waste vegetable oil free of charge.

Before I go any further it must be said that straight vegetable oil is not the easiest of biofuels to use. While any diesel engine can technically use vegetable oil, it is strongly discouraged. Unlike biodiesel, vegetable oil risks gumming up engines causing permanent corrosive damage when placed directly into engines. However, there is a way around this. Diesel engines can be equipped with a separate engine such as a greasecar kit that allows diesel vehicles to successfully run of straight vegetable oil. These kits are typically not very expensive and prevent any problems of losing engine life.

Probably the biggest advantage of vegetable oil is that vegetable oil reduces global warming because they run off of the closed carbon cycle. This means that the vegetable oils will emit simply what has already been absorbed by the plants. On the other hand, fossil fuels emit dormant carbon dioxide causing a net gain in carbon dioxide.

After looking at both the numerous advantages as well as the disadvantages of biofuels, I have come to the conclusion that biofuels provide an excellent source of energy for America.

Is biofuel a silver bullet to solve the energy crisis? Probably not. Nonetheless, if biofuel can at least minimize the burden Americans place on fossil fuels, why should we neglect to pursue additional biofuels?