Bio-Diesel+Philosophy

About Biodiesel

What is biodiesel? it is the name of a clean burning alternative fuel, produced from domestic, renewable resources.. It can be used in diesel engines with little or no modifications. Biodiesel is simple to use, biodegradable, nontoxic, and essentially free of sulfur and aromatics. How is biodiesel made? Biodiesel is made through a chemical process called [|transesterification] where the glycerin is separated from the fat or vegetable oil. The process leaves behind two products -- methyl esters (the chemical name for biodiesel) and glycerin (a valuable byproduct usually sold to be used in soaps and other products).

Courtney http://www.biodiesel.org/resources/biodiesel_basics/default.shtm

Ethical Principles

"It seems like you can’t go anywhere without someone telling you that in ten years we’re all going to be driving ethanol or biodiesel cars. Biofuels are hot. People who a year ago had never heard of switchgrass keep assuring me that it will be fueling my car practically next week. No need to change anything significant about our lives, they say – just raise fuel efficiency standards a little bit and alchemically turn the corn into gold er… oil, and off we go, back to business as usual. (ethics of biodisel in the future) Ethical Principle #2 - It would be nice if it actually worked. Ethical Principle #3 - We must not allow people to starve to fuel our cars Ethical Principle #4 - Forests for home heating before corn for cars Ethical Principle #5 - Either we must address the more basic injustices that lead to hunger, or we must acknowledge that large-scale use of biofuels will increase hunger and inequity. Ethical Principle #6 - We must make the relationship between biofuels, meat eating and hunger explicit, because we can’t have it all. Ethical Principle #7 - Surpluses must be maintained and increased Ethical Principle #8 - Food waste must be minimized, and therefore, biofuels derived from food that would otherwise be wasted are potentially a net benefit Ethical Principle #9 - The language we use shapes how we think, and we should be careful how we think about energy crops Ethical principle #10 - Biofuel production must be both organic and small-scale Ethical Principle #11 - All of this must take into account a view from the peak Ethical Principle #12 - Any system of biofuel production must take the long view"**
 * Ethical Principle #1 - Biofuels cannot and must not be a strategy for maintaining the present situation.

KRISTIE
http://www.energybulletin.net/24169.html