Green Monday: Biodiesel
Okay, I am back from the gathering and ready to jump into this weeks Green Monday post. This is the latest posted biofuel comparison chart I’ve seen, and some of my thoughts on the results.
Lets start with the corn and soy, which are listed as high crop land needed and less than self-sustaining an option. Whereas the emissions from corn are higher, which is a concern, removing the oil from it and soy doesn’t make the rest of the crop inedible. The crop can still be used as a food source in flours and for soy proteins even with the oil extracted for fuels.
Now I have talked about biofuel in my book Natural Order, though keep in mind that the Daughters of the Goddess series is set in 1993 - 1994, so the tech used and options available are different. They used recycled corn and other vegetable oils as well as soy, because that’s what they had the tool and crops to make.
I also though it might be fun at this point to add some info on the history of biodiesel use.
“Transesterification of a vegetable oil was conducted as early as 1853, by scientists E. Duffy and J. Patrick, many years before the first diesel engine became functional. Rudolf Diesel's prime model, a single 10 ft (3 m) iron cylinder with a flywheel at its base, ran on its own power for the first time in Augsburg, Germany on August 10, 1893.”
Rest of article here
“Vegetable oil was first transesterified in 1853 by E Duffy and J Patrick. In 1893, Rudolph Diesel’s first engine was demonstrated. Diesel went on to win the Grand Prix at the World Fair of 1900 in Paris. The engine demonstrated in Paris ran on peanut oil. Diesel believed that engines running on plant oils had potential, and that these oils could one day be as important as petroleum based fuels. However petroleum based diesel fuel became more popular, since it was cheaper to produce.”
Rest of article here
Okay, moving on...
I am very intrigued at the idea of algae farming, since that can be done in a small space with great result. Of all the options listed it does show the best result, but I’m also curious the ratings on hemp since it has so many other uses as well as a textile crop especially. Here’s a video on algae farming just to show how space effective it is.
Pretty cool, huh? I’m fascinated at the idea of vertical growing, and wondered what other crop could grown this way, along with formats such as aquaponics. I'll leave those to thier own Green Monday spotlights. :)
Here’s an interesting vid I found in my search.
I’m with them on the idea of the importance of reestablishing local agriculture, now termed urban agriculture. I work with a local urban farm by me call Growing Power, a very worthwhile organization to check out.
I was also curious recently (okay, not so recent, 2006 when I was doing my nanowrimo project, Worlds Collide) about making your own biofuel at home and came up with these vids.
Lazyman's guide to making Biodiesel (note this is not the full DvD, but it looked like one useful to pick up and this was a promo clip for it from what I can tell.)
Top Gear: Vegetable Oil for Diesel (embedded not available)
A Quick Lesson In Making Biodiesel
Biodiesel for beginners / Biodiesel 101
I hope ya’ll enjoyed this weeks talk on biodiesel. Next week we’ll do a spotlight on Growing Power and the good they are doing for many communities with their programs.
Lets start with the corn and soy, which are listed as high crop land needed and less than self-sustaining an option. Whereas the emissions from corn are higher, which is a concern, removing the oil from it and soy doesn’t make the rest of the crop inedible. The crop can still be used as a food source in flours and for soy proteins even with the oil extracted for fuels.
Now I have talked about biofuel in my book Natural Order, though keep in mind that the Daughters of the Goddess series is set in 1993 - 1994, so the tech used and options available are different. They used recycled corn and other vegetable oils as well as soy, because that’s what they had the tool and crops to make.
I also though it might be fun at this point to add some info on the history of biodiesel use.
“Transesterification of a vegetable oil was conducted as early as 1853, by scientists E. Duffy and J. Patrick, many years before the first diesel engine became functional. Rudolf Diesel's prime model, a single 10 ft (3 m) iron cylinder with a flywheel at its base, ran on its own power for the first time in Augsburg, Germany on August 10, 1893.”
Rest of article here
“Vegetable oil was first transesterified in 1853 by E Duffy and J Patrick. In 1893, Rudolph Diesel’s first engine was demonstrated. Diesel went on to win the Grand Prix at the World Fair of 1900 in Paris. The engine demonstrated in Paris ran on peanut oil. Diesel believed that engines running on plant oils had potential, and that these oils could one day be as important as petroleum based fuels. However petroleum based diesel fuel became more popular, since it was cheaper to produce.”
Rest of article here
Okay, moving on...
I am very intrigued at the idea of algae farming, since that can be done in a small space with great result. Of all the options listed it does show the best result, but I’m also curious the ratings on hemp since it has so many other uses as well as a textile crop especially. Here’s a video on algae farming just to show how space effective it is.
Click to viewPretty cool, huh? I’m fascinated at the idea of vertical growing, and wondered what other crop could grown this way, along with formats such as aquaponics. I'll leave those to thier own Green Monday spotlights. :)
Here’s an interesting vid I found in my search.
I’m with them on the idea of the importance of reestablishing local agriculture, now termed urban agriculture. I work with a local urban farm by me call Growing Power, a very worthwhile organization to check out.
I was also curious recently (okay, not so recent, 2006 when I was doing my nanowrimo project, Worlds Collide) about making your own biofuel at home and came up with these vids.
Lazyman's guide to making Biodiesel (note this is not the full DvD, but it looked like one useful to pick up and this was a promo clip for it from what I can tell.)
Top Gear: Vegetable Oil for Diesel (embedded not available)
A Quick Lesson In Making Biodiesel
Biodiesel for beginners / Biodiesel 101
I hope ya’ll enjoyed this weeks talk on biodiesel. Next week we’ll do a spotlight on Growing Power and the good they are doing for many communities with their programs.