Going Biodiesel Is No Cheap Alternative

unability

Biodiesel will most likely never be able to fully support our fuel needs but we can not just rely on fossil fuels that much is true. But riding a bike to work is not possible for everyone. Even flying a plane uses a lot of fuel. It is also true that algae biofuels are very productive but we dont have the money to create a enough of these large production plants to satisfy our needs. Bifuel is more of a temporary alternate ful right now becuase there will be too many long term problems. With corn biofuel you use presiouce resources that could be used for feed but if you grow something else there you also have less feed so really we will not be able to satisfy our fuel hunger with just biofuel. Wind energy and hydro energy need to be looked into as well.

By the way I'm only 14

sm of MN @ May 04, 2008 14:24:07 PM

Why?

Why produce biodiesel that takes 1.5 gallons of fuel to produce 1 gallon? That makes no sense at all.

Dennis of WA @ Apr 28, 2008 03:46:01 AM

Fuel Prices and Demand

I'm paying $3.78/gallon for biodiesel, that is not bad compared with $4.10/gallon for dino diesel (and that's for crappy low-cetane petro fuel). Since my vehicle gets 40mpg and I use my bicycle for short trips to the store and whatnot, I'm not really affected by the fuel prices.

I watch those enraptured faces of young voters who claim to 'want change', yet can't articulate how it's to be achieved. Don't they teach economics anymore? Has everyone forgotten that only by reducing the purchase of scarce commodities can buyers impact prices?

Ron H. of AZ @ Apr 22, 2008 13:45:26 PM

RE your comment "Guess what? Petroleum prices have yanked farm prices up right along with them, because of rising farm energy costs and rising use of biofuels." You apparently don't understand commodity markets very well. Biodiesel prices are high because of worldwide supply and demand for soy, not because petroleum prices raise the cost of farming. Farmers don't set the price for their products based on how much it takes them to produce it, the markets tell farmers how much they will pay for the crops that a farmer might grow! While it's true higher fuel and fertilizer costs affect farmer's margins, they don't influence prices. Petroleum is a commodity and its prices are set the same way. The same forces that have led us to $100 crude oil (i.e., our own enormous and wasteful energy habits, and the recent increase in demand from the growing economies of India and China) are also placing much higher demands on food oils and grain crops,. That higher demand, coupled with with the ridiculous US mandates for more ethanol have lead us to $6 corn and $12 soybeans. But also note that US biodiesel use is trivial, and has much less effect on prices than ethanol has on corn (and indirectly, on soybeans). Prices for corn and soybeans would probably be going up even if biofuel mandates didn't exist, but the mandates just make things even worse. Forget about jatropha and algae for the next decade, if ever. The folks promoting those 'solutions' are the same ones who were pushing corn ethanol and cellulosic a few years ago - they always have their 'silver bullet' solution when it reality, they just don't appreciate how difficult it is to produce huge volumes of fuel 24/7/365.

bb of WI @ Apr 04, 2008 17:17:47 PM

Greenstar and algae biodiesel

Buy Greenstar stock -- a public corporation that has innovated a system for refining biodiesel from algae.

http://www.greenstarusa.com/

Laura of @ Mar 27, 2008 09:42:58 AM

Bio-Diesel

One last thing, I hope when you do your show David Steinman, that you will ask about Jatropha. I believe you will find your listeners may have interest. I will be posting the website of your radio broadcast into the msg boards I attend. Thanks again.

Sara (Xilo) of MN @ Mar 26, 2008 22:59:55 PM

Jatropha as Bio-diesel

After having watched the price of corn, soy, and beats take off to the moon and beyond, I went searching for a logical alternative to the known bio fuels. This led me to the Jatropha plant and it's seeds. It seems that Jatropha seeds are just now becoming known to the general public as a distinct break from corn and soy and a different direction than ethanol as it concerns bio-diesel. Being from Minnesota and having been following the closing of one of our E plants, this has been a touchy subject around these parts.

I took a look at what companies are handling the Jetropha plant and which ones seem to be ahead of the curve. This led me to Amelot Holdings Inc. (AMHD). I've done research on the company and they are ahead of the curve where it concerns the processing of the plant seed itself. They have found a way to expend upto 30% more out of the seeds crude bio-diesel then their competitors. This in turn means a higher yield per seed thus leading to less waste. They have partnered with Pan-Am Biofuels and together they have found ways to use the stock to produce a form of insecticide that is part of the seed as well as other uses. Futhermore, it seems that with the mention of Jatropha on CNBC on 3/26/2008, that Jatropha as a feasible bio-diesel may have hit the big time.

Lending to the article that leads to this posting, for the forseen future it appears that corn, soy and all the other feedstocks are going to head higher. This in turn means that all the other choices for bio-diesel will very soon find themselves priced right out of the market. Jatropha on the other hand, can be grown in almost any terrain from the most barron to the most tropical. Since it is such a strong plant, it lends itself to cheaper prices in the future for the Jatropha seed while the others go higher AND with a yield rate of 40 to 50 years, it will be a farmers delight when year after year they have a crop that will sell on the market even when their grandkids take over the business. I hope the United States as well as the world will soon open their eyes to this plant that just might save the Bio-diesel industry.

Sara (Xilo) of MN @ Mar 26, 2008 22:55:40 PM

Green Patriot

We will be doing a radio show at www.webtalkradio.net on biodiesel interviewing Joe Gershen, of Tellurian Biodiesel. Visit our site at www.greenpatriot.us for a link to our show. I like the algae idea and will talk to Gershen about it.

David Steinman of CA @ Mar 26, 2008 15:03:28 PM