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Monday, December 13, 2004

Try biodiesel

Does your car or truck have a diesel engine? How about your tractor? If so, consider using biodiesel (or vegetable oil) to fuel your vehicle. It's cheaper, it may earn you a tax credit, and it's better for the environment. Some restaurants will even pay you to take it away! Here are some other reasons you might want to try biodiesel (from the biodieselnow.com website):
* National economy. Using biodiesel keeps our fuel buying dollars at home instead of sending it to foreign countries. This reduces our trade deficit and creates jobs. Because it's farm-grown, many of those jobs are in rural communities.

* National security. Since it's made domestically, it reduces our dependence on foreign oil. That's good.

* Engine life. Studies have shown it reduces engine wear by as much as one half, primarily because it provides excellent lubricity. Even a 2% biodiesel/98% diesel blend will help.

* It's sustainable and non-toxic. Face it, we're going to run out of oil eventually. Biodiesel is 100% renewable... we'll never run out of it. And if it gets into your water supply, there's no problem - it's veggie oil! Heck, you can drink it if you so desire, but it tastes nasty (trust us).

* It produces fewer emissions. Biodiesel is nearly carbon-neutral, meaning it contributes almost zero emissions to global warming! Biodiesel also dramatically reduces other emissions fairly dramatically. We like clean air, how about you? Plus, the exhaust smells like popcorn or french fries!

* Drivability. We have yet to meet anyone who doesn't notice an immediate smoothing of the engine with biodiesel. It just runs quieter, and produces less smoke.

For more information on biodiesel and to learn where to buy it in your area, visit biodieselnow.com or the National Biodiesel Board. See you on the road!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I drive an electric motorcycle. See it at

http://www.hoflink.com/~dbaer/viento.jpg

Karama said...

Thanks for sharing, Dennis! I love my electric lawnmower. Thank you for stopping by and please come again. And spread the word!

Karama said...

BTW, biodiesel is available in Stuttgart, Arkansas and at several locations in Georgia. I'd love to hear from someone who tries this. Ride on!

Karama said...

Check out www.greasel.com for do-it-yourself kits for engine conversion.

Karama said...

Also, check out this AJC article on using used veggie oil instead of biodiesel.

Karama said...

See also nativerenewables.com.

Karama said...

Also, check out this post on using waste/straight vegetable oil instead of diesel (or biodiesel).

Karama said...

Here's my idea for rural areas:

Start a processing facility to produce biodiesel for the numerous trucks and tractors and farm-equipment that run on diesel. The farmers get low-cost, locally-produced, clean-running fuel. If a non-profit runs the processing facility, they can use the "profits" to fund their programs. And the community gets cleaner air, more jobs, and, ideally, an improved economy. Ta-da!

Anonymous said...

I agree, we could all do more in our communities to help the environment and save money. Locally we have a few different people making biodiesel. They make small (200 gallon) batches of biodiesel using biodiesel processors then sell them to local construction crews and dump truck drivers. Everyone seems to benefit from this system and more and more people are asking to participate. There's more demand than there is supply.

Karama said...

Thanks anon!

Emory University is converting all of it's shuttles to biodiesel. But that's not the best part. They're using the waste vegetable oil from Emory kitchens and cafeterias to make the fuel! Good job Emory!