Choice Biofuels as an Alternative Energy Effect
With all the talks going on about global warming, it’s no wonder that people these days are more conscious about the use of alternative energy sources such as biofuels. Biofuels have actually been in use for many years now but it is only in recent years that their benefits as an alternative energy source have been given due attention.
One of the most popular forms of biofuel is the liquid fuel that is used to power vehicles. These are completely environment friendly because they emit no harmful toxins and they are totally renewable. The usual oil used for cars today is not only non-renewable, but it also spews out tons of harmful elements into the atmosphere, speeding up the process of global warming. Biofuels, on the other hand, do not release any harmful substances, as guaranteed by the Environmental Protection Agency or EPA.
Vegetable oils such as corn and soy are the most common sources of biofuels. These oils undergo a process wherein the methyl esters and glycerine are extracted to produce an alcohol such as methanol. Although glycerine is a fairly ordinary substance used in everyday products, its extraction and conversion to biofuel is still a costly process. In fact, when you add up the cost of the entire procedure, it would seem that the use of petroleum is still much more practical. When you consider the long-term benefits, however, it is easy to see that biofuels are the better choice, both in terms of economic and environmental concerns.
In an effort to make the process less expensive, a lot of people have actually taken regular cooking oil and after some processing, used it to power their cars. One of the first concerns that car owners have about alternative energy sources like biodiesels is the quality of their performance. There is no need to worry, though, because several tests have proven that biodiesels can perform just as well as regular petroleum. If you are still not ready to power your vehicle with pure biodiesel, you can try one of the mixes found in the market today, the most popular of which is the B20, a combination of 20% biodiesel and 80% petroleum.
Take note that you do need to make some modifications to your vehicle’s engine before using biodiesel. This is to ensure that your car will run as smoothly as it did on petroleum. Making these changes will not void the warranty on your vehicle at all. The only problem you might be concerned with is the limited availability of biodiesel in the country, since only a few gasoline stations have it so far.
It’s quite interesting to note that when Henry Ford first started to make cars, he originally wanted them to run on ethanol, which is a form of biodiesel. You can just imagine the benefits on the environment if that had actually happened. Things took a turn when explorers uncovered vast oil deposits which enabled them to make cheap diesel to use on the cars. For several years, no one complained, but towards the end of the last century, people started realizing the need for a cleaner and more natural source of energy, and this is when interest in alternative energy sources like biodiesel began to resurface. Today, experts all over the world are hard at work trying to find alternative energy sources that will have a milder impact on our environment and the atmosphere.
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