Making Biodiesel: “Transitional Transportation Fuel”
Making biodiesel now provides stability for the future, especially in the transportation industry.
With demand for petroleum ever increasing, there are some major challenges for the transportation fuel industry. The greatest challenge is that we are at or near peak petroleum oil production right now.
It is now up to new pioneers to discover a new frontier of energy. A fuel that can be produced in compliance with increased demand. If nothing else, to at least aid the current use of petroleum based diesel fuel. It is not so much that we must worry about running out of oil completely, but keeping it in supply enough to keep the cost affordable.
Biodiesel is a term for a number of organic compounds that can be used as fuel after being made from waste oils derived from animal and vegetable products giving it a larger spectrum of supply with the right techniques of producing it to keep up with demand. In short, making biodiesel can be made from a variety of sources.
Some of the sources for biodiesel production can be fat molecules from waste animal material, recycled grease or oils derived from seeds such as soybeans. These materials are combined with methanol and potassium hydroxide, two hazardous chemicals, to complete the transesterification. Don’t let the “hazardous” label fool you though. Biodiesel is clear, safe, and not going to explode. In fact, a person could drink a small bit of biodiesel and would be unlikely to get more than a stomachache, although I would not recommend trying this at any time.
Making your own biodiesel is practical because it makes use of waste oils and excess production of vegetable oils to create a fuel that decreases dependence on foreign oil as well. This means, we can gain national security by getting out of the way and relying on other countries to fuel our economic needs.
Biodiesel is just one of many alternative energies that will propel our nation and our world this century. It is up to individuals to bring about significant advances in using alternative energies on a regular basis. The energy field is wide open and people looking at careers in energy are in pretty good shape.
