Criss Cross Crafts Blog

Few industries have suffered so badly from a veritable sea of external forces as the automotive industry in the last 10 years or so. Certain sectors of the industry had been slow to catch up with trends through the 80s and 90s, and had become too reliant on multiple vehicle ranges and inefficient practices. The industry has been hammered by increased foreign competition, burgeoning fuel prices, regulations, environmental issues and the great recession.

The Clean Air Act was revised in 1990 and dictated that fuels should be more sustainable and particularly that petrol diesel engines be replaced with low sulphur options. While certain states in the US had restricted diesel engine vehicle sales, this is likely to lift as the pollution associated with diesel slows. There are other factors to take into consideration and we saw during the terrible events of 2001 how vulnerable we can be to foreign interests and how we rely on such countries for fuel needs. Our energy security, our environmental health and our economic efficiency began to demand that we look for alternative fuel sources.

Equipment manufacturers have designed diesel engines and internal components much more suitable to the requirements of low sulphur diesel and alternative biodiesel. These days, biodiesel fuel is starting to gain popular acceptance and production has grown by 700% over the outgoing decade.

The great recession has considerably changed the face of the US auto industry. Chrysler, one of the big three, is now owned by Fiat of Europe and it is likely that we will see vehicles in the US based on European platforms and much more efficient than of old. Diesel engine cars are very much in evidence in European countries and there is no reason to assume that we will not see a pick-up in sales there as well. While this happens, biodiesel, as a reliable alternative will undoubtedly push forward as well. Biodiesel may compare to conventional diesel, price wise, but the former represents a better option for the health of both our people and the planet.

Biodiesel is not an experimental fuel as some believe. It has a history going back to the 1930s and has been fully certified by the Environmental Protection Agency. Auto manufacturers are quite happy to see biodiesel used in diesel engine vehicles as long as the biodiesel is manufactured to internationally accepted standards, and will not void a warranty if you do so. Indeed, biodiesel has a higher lubricity than petro diesel and will help to ensure the longevity of your engine.

While distribution stations are few and far between, the fuel is yet to gain widespread acceptance. Entrepreneurs should consider production and think about making biodiesel fuel commercially available for all of us. Those who start off making homemade biodiesel could move up to the production of the fuel in their local regions. It is possible to obtain certification from the EPA once you have mastered the task of producing the fuel reliably, and to progress by selling it to an increasingly interested public. Biodiesel is a superb alternative fuel, and it’s certainly an option which could radically change our impact on the Earth, perhaps more quickly than we might realise.

The adoption of biodiesel and its integration within our society face a number of complex, interdependent or exclusive challenges. While there is, as yet, only a limited amount of comprehensively researched data available, many factors are changing in favour of biodiesel fuel. Just 10 years ago, widespread adoption of biodiesel as an alternative fuel mode seemed unlikely, but that situation is certainly changing fast.

We are learning very quickly how our reliance on traditional fossil fuels is likely to cause us great concern in the future. Greenhouse gases associated with the production of petroleum and our other energy needs are causing a highly detrimental change to our planet’s average temperature. This type of climate change is leading to results that we can already see and we can be very worried about the problems that could face future generations. Changes must come and we must cut down our reliance on fossil fuels, even though this change is slow to materialise sometimes. We often do not like changes and challenges to the way that we exist and we certainly do not like additional economic costs associated. However, adopting alternative energy production processes and consumption patterns may put us at competitive disadvantage compared to countries that do not.

Environmentalists assure us that unless we act now, harm will become irreversible. Consequently, governments are starting to consider taxation of carbon itself, forcing organisations through market pressures to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and increase their energy efficiency. For biodiesel, this could help to balance the playing field. When traditional fuels become more expensive due to this carbon tax, biodiesel fuel will become more attractive.

Society will exert its own pressures and will move toward options that are seen to be far “greener” than they are now. As such, even if biodiesel fuels represent a premium over other fuels and even if they are somewhat more difficult to locate, such a trend may nevertheless push for more adoption. People will experiment with ways of making biodiesel and commercial solutions will emerge around the country.

Farmers have been worried about declining demand for their products in recent times. As homemade biodiesel relies on vegetable oils or surplus oils and animal fats, crop producers could find a ready market for soybeans, for example providing the raw material essential for the production of the fuel. This in turn would help to keep revenues from the production and sale of fuel within our communities, rather than distributing these revenues overseas. It is sobering to realise that by the 2020s, two thirds of fuel purchased revenues could be lost to foreign countries.

Sustainability is going to be a very hot topic during this new decade. The biodiesel industry should ensure that it’s front and centre to this argument. With so much at stake, not only with respect to the long term financial stability of our country, but also the priceless global sustainability which could be achieved, can any of us really afford to continue to wait until someone in power makes a decision?

If you sometimes sit back in your chair and watch, with an element of incredulity, the violence that inevitably breaks out whenever climate related political summits occur, then you can see an element of the tension that is slowly but surely building up around the world. We are simply coming to terms with just how unsustainable our lives really are. Nobody can justify this kind of violence, and it makes us think how these individuals can be so angry and driven, but then when we look at all the material that scientists now give us and realise that our crazy lifestyles really are alien to the sustainable future of our planet. Everyone of us has to take steps to cut down, in aggressive fashion, the energy that we use, both at home and at work and be responsible for what is happening all around us. Greenhouse gases are building up in our atmosphere due to our use of those traditional fossil fuels – gas, coal and oil, raising our Earth’s temperature and threatening considerable harm to future generations unless we act quickly.

Politicians are slow as usual and we cannot understand why they are not acting more quickly. Recent and crucial talks in Copenhagen resulted in only moderate agreement and few, tangible results. As individuals, we all know that we can make a difference if we take action and really focus on how we use transportation on a daily basis. Public transportation is very underused and we tend to scoff at the idea of carpooling, riding a bicycle, or even walking! If environmental reasons are not enough to cause us to constrain our use, we should remember the events of 2008 when gasoline prices spiked considerably.

Our cars, trucks and buses are huge polluters of the environment and the automotive industry in the United States in particular is slow to shrug off the vestiges of an era when gas guzzlers were totally acceptable. Once, it was acceptable to drive the lumbering, cumbersome and thirsty vehicle, especially when gasoline was much less than a dollar per gallon.

It seems that biodiesel fuel is a much brighter option for the future. It is derived from widely available agricultural sources. It is produced by mixing vegetable oil or leftover fats with methanol through separation. If you are suitably inclined, making biodiesel at home is a good option. As a rule of thumb, homemade biodiesel in undiluted form can be used in your diesel engine vehicle with no additional effort, but many vehicles use a blend of conventional petrodiesel and biodiesel, called B20, B40, etc.

Biodiesel may not yet have “arrived” in terms of popular culture, but as our desire to cut back on consumption, to explore alternative hybrid vehicles and to generally live greener lives increases, we’re sure to see more emphasis on this renewable form of energy. When this special fuel does eventually become widely available to people all around the world, we will have a much better chance at slowing the incredible rate of global ecological change.