UFO wrote:
bugnout wrote:
Dr. Diesel wrote:
If you can get bio-d from rapeseed (canola oil) it seems to be one of the best plants in terms of energy input to energy output. Soybeans are a good first step, but not the best. Making bio-d from coal is not helping the environment any because the fuel is still coming from a fossil fuel and the CO2 (global warming gas) is not being reduced.
Interesting, I didn't know they could produce Biodiesel from coal. What's the case against using it over renewable products?
More energy to convert it? More water to process it? Does BioD produced from coal result in more emitted CO2 than BioD produced from other sources or does it emit more CO2 to process it than producing BioD?
If it comes from coal, it's not
biodiesel. The Germans made liquid diesel fuel from coal in WWII; it's not a new process,
and obviously releases a lot more new CO2 per mile.
I recall that now. Its a dirty process and a last resort when they were cut off from the Ploesti oil fields.
In reference to the part I bolded, your saying, because coal is in the form of captured Carbon, it is always a NET Plus to the environment vs Biodiesel that is made from plants that absorb CO2 and thus is closer to a NET Zero proposition. I tend to agree with the argument that net zero is better. I had forgotten about coal as a possible source of diesel,and I'd be interested to see if anyone has done a net CO2 analysis.
Unfortunately most analysis i've seen of biofuels don't factor in the cost (in CO2) to produce in the NET equation. additional costs like the tractors, pesticides, fertilizer, transportation, processing etc. Ethanol from corn is certainly been oversold by the farm lobby as a solution and IMHO is not cost effective and probably does more harm to our environment than good.
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2005 CRD "
Ol' Blue"
Red Ryder carbine-action, two hundred shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing which tells time.
My build page- RL Komodo Rear and TJM Front Bumper, armored, lifted, JBA Steel D30, 4.10s and ARB air lockers.