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 Positive Progressivism, Chapter 1: Biodiesel!!
by Steve
 If you're down about the state of the world, it helps to do something positive, right? Well, how about something that...
- gives your transportation money to an American farmer rather than a Saudi sheikh,
- reduces emissions and environmental impact spectacularly, and
- recycles a renewable resource rather than consuming a nonrenewable one?
I just discovered this concept, called biodiesel. Essentially it's making diesel fuel from any vegetable oil, such as peanut or rapeseed oil. The process is fairly simple and takes a few hours, and you can use fryer grease that local restaurants currently pay to dispose of. (The odor of fryer grease seems to attract a lot of friendly attention. Don't use doughnut grease if you don't want to talk to cops.)
Biodiesel is very good to the environment. All of the major pollution metrics are improved save for NOx, which is increased 5-15%. Sulfur is completely gone, and carbon monoxide has been replaced with eco-friendly CO2. The byproduct of the refining process is biodegradeable; the fuel itself, when spilled, breaks up into its component parts of vegetable oil and alcohol -- biodegradeable. So simply from a pollution standpoint, biodiesel has immediate clear benefits to the national health.
It's good for engines. Biodiesel is more lubricious than regular diesel, so the engine consumes less motor oil and the parts all last longer. It has a mild detergent effect which keeps your tank and fuel lines clean. It is not hydroscopic to the same extent as regular diesel fuel, which means it lasts a bit longer before becoming water-fouled. It has the same basic performance characteristics as diesel; you shouldn't see any difference in regular use.
(Modern diesel engines, such as the Volkswagen TDI, run Biodiesel without modification, and with full warranty support from Volkswagen. Older diesel engines require some minor modification.)
It is excellent for the economy. Farmers who are being driven under by massive agrobusinesses can easily sell their crop - diesel fuel!! The market for this would be unlimited if we all drove diesel cars. And with the latest diesel designs, there's no reason not to - better fuel economy without performance loss?
By removing a dependence on middle east oil, we remove one of the principal arguments used by the imperials, that we must defend our national energy interests abroad. With the energy dependence lessened, we can begin to extricate ourselves from the region, so that our soldiers can defend our energy supply right here in the U.S.A. (A little anecdote: Rudolph Diesel invented the engine originally to run on peanut oil. After his death the engine was modified to run on petroleum byproducts.)
I imagine a world where the 50,000,000 cars on the road today don't fill up with Saudi dinosaur juice, but rather with good old American corn or peanuts. A world where Jefferson's farmer-patriot is capable of creating his own energy, even running a diesel generator off his own crops. Where our troops do not have to garrison on top of petroleum supplies.
So you want to make a change, to make a difference? Make your next car a diesel, and your fuel biodiesel, and then tell all your friends. Those red states might turn blue if we give them their economic freedom back!
(ps. I am currently running on my very first tank of B100 biodiesel, hand-pumped from a 55 gallon drum out at an art commune. The most noticeable thing? it doesn't stink.)
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