Pure Homemade Biodiesel Is The Next Fuel For The Future
It is difficult to watch the violence that we see surrounding political summits discussing climate change and it makes us realise just how much tension is in the air surrounding this subject. Now we are coming to understand how unsustainable our lives are. Nobody can justify this kind of violence, and it makes us think how these individuals can be so angry and driven, but then when we look at all the material that scientists now give us and realise that our crazy lifestyles really are alien to the sustainable future of our planet. Most of us realise that we now need to aggressively cut down on our energy use, both individually and collectively, and to take a major element of responsibility for what we do. The traditional fossil fuels of oil, coal and gas are helping to build up greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, raising the temperature of the earth and threatening the very existence of generations to come.
Politicians are slow as usual and we cannot understand why they are not acting more quickly. Recent and crucial talks in Copenhagen resulted in only moderate agreement and few, tangible results. Each one of us has to take action and we are aware, for example, that we need to cut back on our transportation needs. We have been told for years to try and carpool, to use public transportation, to use bicycles or even to walk to work. If environmental reasons are not enough to cause us to constrain our use, we should remember the events of 2008 when gasoline prices spiked considerably.
Our cars, trucks and buses are huge polluters of the environment and the automotive industry in the United States in particular is slow to shrug off the vestiges of an era when gas guzzlers were totally acceptable. It used to be okay to drive a car that was way too big, cumbersome and inefficient for our actual needs and as much as anything else, when gas was only 50 or 60 cents per gallon.
Now we know that biodiesel fuel represents a much more palatable option. The fuel is derived from agricultural products which are generally widely available. The product is made with leftover fat or vegetable oil and mixed with methanol for separation. If you are suitably inclined, making biodiesel at home is a good option. Generally, homemade biodiesel, as B100, can be used in your diesel engine vehicle with no modification, although a majority of vehicles these days operate on a blend of biodiesel and conventional petrol diesel (B20, B40 and so on).
Biodiesel may not yet have “arrived” in terms of popular culture, but as our desire to cut back on consumption, to explore alternative hybrid vehicles and to generally live greener lives increases, we’re sure to see more emphasis on this renewable form of energy. When this special fuel does eventually become widely available to people all around the world, we will have a much better chance at slowing the incredible rate of global ecological change.
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