Biodiesel center open in Dubuque, Perspective -- Refuelig America with homegrown fuels, New Holland goes biodiesel, Ithaca Biodiesel sets goal

Biodiesel center open in Dubuque
Radio Iowa - Des Moines,IA,USA
by Stella Shaffer. A new distribution center for bio-diesel fuel is open in Dubuque. The plant will have capacity to store 30-thousand ...

Duluth Biodiesel Co-op to celebrate one-year anniversary
BusinessNorth.com - Duluth,MN,USA
The Duluth Biodiesel Co-op invites the public to its One Year Anniversary Celebration and Open House, Tuesday, June 6, 5- 8 pm Come meet co-op members, see ...

Perspective -- Refuelig America with homegrown fuels
Illinois Farm Bureau - Bloomington,IL,USA
... As the energy crisis grows more evident, the use of ethanol, biodiesel, and E diesel is achieving unprecedented growth in the United States. ...

It is becoming more evident to many of us who live in the United States that we could experience a very serious energy crisis in the near future.

There are experts who believe that our world oil reserves will only last another 49.3 years. That does not account for the growing appetites in the expanding economies of China and India.

Natural gas supplies are expected to last only 65.4 years. As the energy crisis grows more evident, the use of ethanol, biodiesel, and E diesel is achieving unprecedented growth in the United States.

Ethanol, used as a gasoline additive, is an alternative fuel that is better for our vehicles because it is an oxygenate, meaning it contains oxygen.

Biodiesel also is a clean burning alternative fuel that is produced from domestic, renewable resources. Biodiesel does not contain any petroleum, but can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend.

E diesel is a fuel that uses additives in order to allow blending of ethanol with diesel. It includes ethanol blends of 7.7 percent to 15 percent and up to 5 percent special additives that prevent the ethanol and diesel from separating at very low temperatures or if water contamination occurs.

Ethanol, biodiesel, and E diesel products all have the ability to meet air quality standards because they reduce:

• Harmful tailpipe emissions of carbon monoxide by as much as 30 percent;

• Particulate matter emissions by more than 25 percent;

• Toxic emissions by 30 percent;

• Exhaust volatile organic compounds emissions by 12 percent; and

• Ozone-forming pollutants.

The benefits of these renewable, homegrown fuels to the air quality are a key factor in the attempt to reduce global warming.

MTBE, or methyl tertiary butyl ether, is a fuel oxygenate, which is derived from petroleum and has been one of the best selling oxygenates in the world.

Today MTBE is banned in many states because it has been shown to contaminate groundwater and is listed as a possible carcinogen.

Ethanol, biodiesel, and E diesel are much safer products for the environment where water pollution is concerned. Ethanol and biodiesel are highly biodegradable and nontoxic. E diesel also is biodegradable and far less toxic than petroleum diesel.

The United States consumes approximately 20 million barrels of oil a day, more than half of which is imported.

The U.S. Department of Energy projects that by 2025, the U.S. will import approximately 70 percent of all the petroleum it consumes.

Even with the ongoing conflict in Iraq and the turmoil throughout the Middle East, the U.S. continues its dangerous dependence on foreign sources of oil.

The production of homegrown fuels would greatly reduce this country’s dependence on foreign oil while boosting the U.S. economy. Biodiesel is the fastest growing alternative fuel in America today.

With skyrocketing petroleum prices, more can, and should be, done to utilize domestic homegrown fuels that, in turn, would increase our national energy security and reduce the growing uncertainty surrounding U.S. oil imports.

An increase in the use of renewable, homegrown fuels would create an increase in the value of grain for the American farmer.

An average annual increase of the equivalent of 200 million gallons of soy-based biodiesel demand would boost total crop cash receipts by $5.2 billion cumulatively by 2010, resulting in an average national net farm income increase of $300 million per year. The price for a bushel of soybeans would increase by an average of 17 cents annually.

A bushel of corn produces 2.7 gallons of ethanol and a byproduct of 18 pounds of dry distiller’s grain (DDG). A growth in ethanol production could see corn prices increasing 10 to 12 cents per bushel.

Unlike fossil fuels that take thousands of years to form, ethanol, and biodiesel are completely renewable and made from crops grown right here in the United States.

These renewable resources are a long-term alternative to importing oil. Not only are they safer for

our health and environment, their production would have an astronomically positive effect on the value of grain for American farmers.

All in all, they are better fuels which would create a better America

 

New Holland goes biodiesel
Lancaster Newspapers - Lancaster,PA,USA
... PA - Farm equipment maker New Holland announced Tuesday that it is the first US engine manufacturer to fully advocate the use of biodiesel blended fuels in all ...

Ithaca Biodiesel sets goal
Ithaca Times - Ithaca,NY,USA
... french fries? "Rudolf Diesel originally designed diesel engine to run on peanut oil," said Micaela Cook, a member of Ithaca Biodiesel, a local cooperative ...