Interesting Ideas On How Biodiesel Is Acquiring Acceptance
The auto industry has really been under the gun for the last 10 years or so due to complex, external forces. Certain sectors of the industry had been slow to catch up with trends through the 80s and 90s, and had become too reliant on multiple vehicle ranges and inefficient practices. Due to foreign competition, an increasing fuel price, more stringent regulation, environmental considerations and finally an economic downturn, the industry has been left reeling.
In 1990, the revision to the Clean Air Act specified that fuels become more sustainable and that manufacturers begin replacing petro diesel engines with low sulphur alternatives. While certain states in the US had restricted diesel engine vehicle sales, this is likely to lift as the pollution associated with diesel slows. However, other factors were also at work and the terrorist attacks of 2001 only served to remind us how we relied on far-off foreign countries for our fuel needs. We must look for alternative fuel sources to satisfy our economic, environmental and energy security requirements.
Equipment manufacturers have designed diesel engines and internal components much more suitable to the requirements of low sulphur diesel and alternative biodiesel. These days, biodiesel fuel is starting to gain popular acceptance and production has grown by 700% over the outgoing decade.
The great recession has considerably changed the face of the US auto industry. Chrysler, one of the big three, is now owned by Fiat of Europe and it is likely that we will see vehicles in the US based on European platforms and much more efficient than of old. Diesel engine cars are very much in evidence in European countries and there is no reason to assume that we will not see a pick-up in sales there as well. This would lead to biodiesel becoming more and more important. While prices may be equitable as compared to conventional diesel, vehicles which operate pure biodiesel or a blend are much better for both the health of our global climate and the people.
Biodiesel is not an experimental fuel as some believe. It is the only fuel fully certified by the EPA and can be traced back to the 1930s. Auto manufacturers are quite happy to see biodiesel used in diesel engine vehicles as long as the biodiesel is manufactured to internationally accepted standards, and will not void a warranty if you do so. Conversely, biodiesel use is likely to result in a longer-lasting engine as it has a much higher lubricity when compared to petro diesel.
While distribution stations are few and far between, the fuel is yet to gain widespread acceptance. Entrepreneurs should consider production and think about making biodiesel fuel commercially available for all of us. Those who start off making homemade biodiesel could move up to the production of the fuel in their local regions. It is possible to obtain certification from the EPA once you have mastered the task of producing the fuel reliably, and to progress by selling it to an increasingly interested public. Biodiesel is a superb alternative fuel, and it’s certainly an option which could radically change our impact on the Earth, perhaps more quickly than we might realise.
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