Comments on: Biodiesel to drive up the price of cooking oil

Biodiesel reduces carbon monoxide, but food prices will go up for everyone--especially fast foodies and those abroad.

[gmycyk191]

Soy tastes like wax

Dude, why would anyone want to eat mass amounts of some white flavorless wax? I'd polish the floors with it, shine my shoes, etc. If it doesn't look like food, doesn't taste like food, why eat it? You can keep the white glop.

BTW, did you know soy (along with corn) is heavily subsidized by the US government? Does that mean there?s an incentive to push it on consumers?

I really don?t know, but I have to say, I?ve come to belief (tragically) that there?s almost nothing we can take for granted anymore in our country. Is anyone to be trusted? To be taken at face value? Politicians? The media? Certainly not the Internet?

What the hell ever happened to integrity? Shame on us. Shame on all of us.

[georose]

Selfish

Do we really need to save a dime on fuel costs to hurt the starving people in the "3rd World"??

[georose]

Not Taxed

The only reason vegetable oil is a cheap fuel is because it isn't taxed yet. I thought we might pollute oursevles out of existence first but maybe will starve ourselves first as was originally predicted. Save those fetuses so we can overpopulate the world with hungry humans.

[treet007]

Biodiesel as sole fuel is stupid...

Biodiesel as a sole fuel source would be horrible to the food production for the world. To my understanding, it also does not have the high octane ability like gasoline, so you need to burn more biodiesel in order to go the same distance as gasoline can.

If biodiesel is offered as one of the alternatives, then great. We can recycle wasted cooking oils and food into biodiesel. But to grow and process food strictly for biodiesel is stupid. Hunger is still a major problem in the world, and it can only get worse if biodiesel replaces gasoline. --GIF

[treet007]

Biodiesel as sole fuel is stupid...

Biodiesel as a sole fuel source would be horrible to the food production for the world. To my understanding, it also does not have the high octane ability like gasoline, so you need to burn more biodiesel in order to go the same distance as gasoline can.

If biodiesel is offered as one of the alternatives, then great. We can recycle wasted cooking oils and food into biodiesel. But to grow and process food strictly for biodiesel is stupid. Hunger is still a major problem in the world, and it can only get worse if biodiesel replaces gasoline for the masses. --GIF

[dmouton]

Biodiesel not so stupid

First, Diesel is not measured with an 'octane' rating, it's typically
measured with a 'cetane' rating. And although it depends on the
raw matieral used, refining method, etc, in general vegetable
oil-based Biodiesel has a higher cetane rating than petroleum
diesel, not lower.

Also, most Biodiesel has a higher lubrosity rating than petro-
based diesel. Lubrosity (one of my favorite words of all time) is
roughly a measure of how well a substance provides lubricating
effects (ie, to the machinery within which it runs).

If you're interested, you can google for the school district that
did a several month trial run of Biodiesel in place of the petro-
based diesel they were running in their school buses. I think it
may have been a Milwaukee district - or at least, somewhere
around thte Great Lakes - and tested the use of B20 (that is, a
mix of 20% biodiesel and 80% petro diesel).

As is typical in a fleet environment, they chemically measure the
state of their fuel oil on a regular basis, and change it when
necessary (not '3 months or 3000 miles' like most consumers do
their cars). What they found - and I'm only going off of memory
here, but I should be pretty close to actual - was that their
overall fuel economy increased by a significant percentage
(something like 10+%), they were able to go significantly longer
in between necessary oil changes, and anacdotally seemed to
have fewer engine breakdowns or other difficulties. This
collectively lead them to determine that the use of Biodiesel on
average provided them a ~20% increase in overall economy -
that is, if the price per gallon were equivalent, and factoring in
total cost of ownership per mile per year, they'd save almost 20%
over the use of petro diesel alone.

Incidentally, the reason they didn't use B100 (100% biodiesel)
points to one substantial problem of biodiesel: without other
stabilizers, it has a tendancy to solidify in northern climates or
at lower temperatures. So unless you have a tank heater in your
rig, or you live down on the South Coast like me, you can't use
100% biodiesel in the north during the winter.

[gheyes]

Mixed units

I wish people wouldn't mix units like pounds and gallons since
sometimes the whole article loses meaning:

"According to Camp, part of the problem is the amount of oil
required. It takes 7.5 pounds of oil to make one gallon of
biodiesel."

Since a pint of water weighs a pound, there are eight pints in a
gallon and oil is less dense than water I would estimate that 7.5
pounds of oil is approximately one gallon so the quote becomes:

"According to Camp, part of the problem is the amount of oil
required. It takes one gallon of oil to make one gallon of
biodiesel."

The problem actually is that there are only so many gallons of oil
being produced and that number is less than the number of
gallons needed to replace fossil diesel with biodiesel. So
biodiesel is only viable if oil production is vastly increased and it
isn't clear if that is feasable. Also biodiesel puts fuel and food
production in competition for resources which will drive up food
prices.

[lucifinil]

Share police stories and news

Share police stories and news

Check the news from police.vost.com

military friends, military networking military network, military
social, finding friends, blogs, blogging, group, forum, military community,
search people, message, military photo, military image, love, dating,
sex, make love, friends, gun, fire, tank, air, navy seals, troop, kill,
war. 21

[Mark Meachen]

Biodiesel to drive up the price of cooking oil - NOT!

Please educate yourself. A car burning used vegetable oil is NOT
the same thing as burning biodiesel. I fill up at a typical pump
and my car run on any blend of BIODIESEL. My car, like any
modern diesel can run on it with NO modification. Waste
vegetable oil is another bird. You need a second tank. It's
doable, but it isn't the same thing as burning biodiesel.

Confusing the two is irresponsible. Suggesting that these crops
are somehow tied to the cost of fuel ignores the fact the
biodiesel is a by-product of a crop that is used for animal feed
(among others).

Getting used oil (among other sources) is secondary to the goal
of moving away from petrodiesel as much as possible.

Get the two stories straight.

Respectfully submitted,

Mark Meachen

[steve sand]

Mark Meachen

Dear Sir-
After reading your commit I must say that I am deeply concerned about your states minimum educational standards. You say that you fill up your car at a "blended" Biodiesel pump, but Biodiesel is completely different from vegetable oil? NO **** SHERLOCK, thank you for pointing out the obvious. Did you think someone would try to fry fish in Biodiesel, or maybe use Biodiesel to make a cake? "Honey, I'm going to the grocery store to get some Biodiesel, you used the end of it last night at dinner." Come on now, lets just assume that we both know the difference between Biodiesel and Vegetable Oil- I know I do.

Let me inform you Mark that Biodiesel CAN BE MADE FROM (not is) vegetable oil...in fact virgin vegetable oil is what we use in ours. You mix in a little methanol, some sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide, and about 10% water per volumn with a few other things and PRESTO- Biodiesel. No need to change tanks or lines or pumps or anything to use it. This is not yet blended.

Yes Mark, let me explain. Unblended Biodiesel can be ran in anything that is currently on regular diesel fuel. Now be aware that it may cause your engine to become a little more efficient and last a little longer, not to mention cut pollution in half.

Now let me back up a minute and inform you that you can also blend it with diesel fuel. Some people, also known as distributers, actually make a living by blending it and hauling it to the gas station. It will be blended about 1:4 with diesel #2 and then sold to you at the gas station so you can put it in your little car and think you understand something well enough to get on here and complain about something you don't even understand.

[steve sand]

Mark Meachen

Dear Sir-
After reading your commit I must say that I am deeply concerned about your states minimum educational standards. You say that you fill up your car at a "blended" Biodiesel pump, but Biodiesel is completely different from vegetable oil? NO **** SHERLOCK, thank you for pointing out the obvious. Did you think someone would try to fry fish in Biodiesel, or maybe use Biodiesel to make a cake? "Honey, I'm going to the grocery store to get some Biodiesel, you used the end of it last night at dinner." Come on now, lets just assume that we both know the difference between Biodiesel and Vegetable Oil- I know I do.

Let me inform you Mark that Biodiesel CAN BE MADE FROM (not is) vegetable oil...in fact virgin vegetable oil is what we use in ours. You mix in a little methanol, some sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide, and about 10% water per volumn with a few other things and PRESTO- Biodiesel. No need to change tanks or lines or pumps or anything to use it. This is not yet blended.

Yes Mark, let me explain. Unblended Biodiesel can be ran in anything that is currently on regular diesel fuel. Now be aware that it may cause your engine to become a little more efficient and last a little longer, not to mention cut pollution in half.

Now let me back up a minute and inform you that you can also blend it with diesel fuel. Some people, also known as distributers, actually make a living by blending it and hauling it to the gas station. It will be blended about 1:4 with diesel #2 and then sold to you at the gas station so you can put it in your little car and think you understand something well enough to get on here and complain about something you don't even understand.

Oh ya buddy, so the next time you want to get on here and be all jacked up and say someone needs to "get the two stories straight", you should have researched it. Now that you know vegetable oil (virgin and used) is the PRIMARY ingredient in Biodiesel, surely you can figure out(or ask someone) why it will affect the prices of vegetable oil.
NOT respectfully submitted,
Steve Sand [e-mail]