The simple fact of life in this country is that in many cases we actually need a vehicle. While many cities have made great strides with public transportation in the last few years, America's dependency on the automobile won't disappear any time soon. For decades Americans have been at the mercy of the petroleum companies, literally held prisoner to the gas and oil prices, however, there is an option. When Rudolf Diesel premiered his revolutionary new engine at the 1900 World Expo in Paris, it ran on peanut oil. Diesel saw his engine as an alternative to the toxic, heavily polluting engines used at the time to power steam engines and automobiles. He envisioned a monopoly-busting engine that could be powered with locally grown vegetable oils (including hemp) and seed oils. Diesel once commented, "The diesel engine can be fed with vegetable oils and would help considerably in the development of agriculture of the countries which use it." After his mysterious death in 1913 the engine he created was modified to run on the petroleum based fuel referred to as 'diesel'. The Biodiesel Revolution In the last few years we've seen a rise in the production of Biodiesel, which is simply a vegetable oil based alternative to petroleum. Biodiesel can be manufactured relatively easily from any vegetable oil, and in fact most diesel engines can still run on straight vegetable oil poured directly into the fuel tank. Biodiesel can be safely manufactured in the average garage and used in any diesel engine without any conversions to the vehicle. The average cost of a gallon of biodiesel runs from 50-80 cents and the by-product, glycerol, can also be processed to make glycerin soap. Biodiesel burns cleaner than 'diesel fuel', reducing carbon dioxide levels by up to 100% according to Josh Tickell, the author of the groundbreaking book "From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank". "Biodiesel is more lubricating than diesel fuel, it increases the engine life and it can be used to replace sulfur, a lubricating agent that, when burned, produces sulfur dioxide - the primary component in acid rain. Instead of sulfur, all diesel fuel sold in France contains 5% biodiesel ", Tickell states on his website. "Biodiesel is better for the environment because it is made from renewable resources and has lower emissions compared to petroleum diesel. It is less toxic than table salt and biodegrades as fast as sugar. Since it is made in the USA from renewable resources such as soybeans, its use decreases our dependence on foreign oil and contributes to our own economy," according to the National Biodiesel Board. To learn more about Biodiesel and how you can get involved check out the following websites; http://www.biodieselamerica.org http://www.biodiesel.org http://www.hempcar.org/diesel.shtml |
