Hemp for Fuel (http://www.artistictreasure.com/learnmorecleanair.htm)
Biodiesel
can be made from domestically produced, renewable
Oilseed crops such as hemp. The concept of using
vegetable oil as an engine fuel dates back to 1895
when Dr. Rudolf Diesel developed the first diesel
engine to run on vegetable oil. Diesel demonstrated
his engine at the World Exhibition in Paris in
1900 using peanut oil as fuel. |
Biodiesel is the only
alternative fuel that runs in any conventional, unmodified
diesel engine. It can be stored anywhere that petroleum
diesel fuel is stored.
Biodiesel is safe to handle and transport because
it is as biodegradable as sugar, 10 times less toxic
than table salt, and has a high flashpoint of about
300 F compared to petroleum diesel fuel, which has
a flash point of 125 F.
Biodiesel is a proven fuel with over 30 million successful
US road miles, and over 20 years of use in Europe. |
All cars will
run on 'biofuel' mix by 2010 By
Ben Webster Transport Correspondent,
The Times, 2/11/05
Oil companies are to be forced to add fuel made
from crops such as oil seed rape and sugar cane to
all petrol and diesel sold in Britain.
The Government is preparing to announce a Renewable
Transport Fuel Obligation under which 5 per cent
of all fuel sold by 2010 will have to come from crops,
known as biofuel.
The oil industry is expected to comply by selling
a blend which will comprise 95 per cent diesel or
petrol and 5 per
cent biofuel. All cars can use the 5 per cent blend
without modification. Some models, including versions
of the Saab 9-5 and Ford Focus, have been adapted
to take a blend containing 85 per cent biofuel.
About 2 per cent of fuel currently sold in Britain
is biofuel. Ethanol made from Brazilian sugar cane
is added ta petrol. Oil seed rape and reprocessed
vegetable oils are added to diesel. Ministers have
acknowledged that tight controls will be needed on
how the crops are produced to avoid the destruction
of the Amazon rainforest.
A Whitehall source said: "The obligation will
result in soaring demand for sugar cane from Brazil
and we don't want to see rainforest being chopped
down in order to grow it. "
|
The 5 per cent blend
will be enough to reduce Britain's emissions of carbon
dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, by more than 1
per cent by 2010.
Thousands of farmers have already
either converted fields to growing fuel crops or
are planning to do so. The number of hectares of
agricultural land in Britain devoted to growing
oil seed rape, which turns fields bright yellow in
Spring, grew by 100,000 to 1.5 million between 2004
and 2005.
Half of Tesco's 381 filling stations already sell
petrol with a 5 per cent blend of ethanol and 23
sell the diesel version of biofuel.
Sales of "biodiesel" more than doubled
to 3 million liters a month in the year to May, according
to Department for Transport figures.
Over the same period, "bioethanol" grew
from virtually nothing to 7.8 million litres a month.
Both forms of biofuel have been boosted by a 20p
a litre tax rebate. However, this only applies to
the crop element of the blended fuel, meaning a 5
per cent blend costs only Ip less in tax than conventional
fuel.
The UK Petrol Industry Association said that the
industry would be capable of meeting the 2010 target
without having to raise pump prices. |
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