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Vegetable oils as alternative energy

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This article is on the potential of vegetable oil to replace fossil fuels in the economy and how it compared to other potential replacements. See also main articles on using vegetable oil as biodiesel or straight vegetable oil used as fuel.

Future of Energy for World Economy

There is a limited amount of fossil fuel in the ground. Since fossil fuels are currently the main source of energy for transportation and electric power generation, the world economy is very dependent on them. As time goes on our economy will have to transition to some other source(s) of energy. Some of the possible futures include a hydrogen economy, methanol economy, ethanol economy, solar power (in particular photovoltaics), wind power, fission power, fusion power, and some type of biofuel like straight vegetable oil.

Safety

Vegetable oil is generated from sunlight and CO2 by plants. It is safer to use and store than gasoline, diesel, hydrogen, ethanol, or methanol as it has a higher flash point. It is biodegradable, so a spill is not such a problem. It is not toxic, in fact it is edible.

Feasibility of Transition to Vegetable Oil for Transportation

The transition to vegetable oil based transportation could be gradual and relatively easy compared to hydrogen, ethanol, and most other alternatives.

Vegetable oil can be converted to biodiesel or burned as straight vegetable oil. Biodiesel is chemically the same as diesel and so works fine in any diesel engine.

Straight vegetable oil works in diesel engines if it is heated first [1]. Some diesel engines already heat their fuel, others need a small electric heater on the fuel line. How well it works depends on the heating system, the engine, the type of vegetable oil (thinner is easier), and the climate (warmer is easier). Some data is available on results users are seeing. [2] As vegetable oil has gotten more popular as a fuel, engines are being designed to handle it better. However, as of the start of 2007, it seems that there are not any production vehicles warrantied for burning straight vegetable oil. A number of vehicle modification kits are available.

Gas stations can start with one pump for vegetable oil and add more as needed.

Environmentally Friendly

As with other biofuels, CO2 is first taken out of the atmosphere to make the vegetable oil and then put back when it is burned in the engine. So vegetable oil does not increase the CO2 in the atmosphere, so does not contribute to the problem of greenhouse gas. It is really a way of catching and storing solar power. It is a true renewable energy.

Burning Fossil Fuels releases sulfur and other harmful things into the atmosphere.[3] Because vegetable oil has not been inside the earth for millions of years, it is not contaminated with things like sulfur and burns much cleaner. Burning Fossil Fuels also contributes to the greenhouse gas problem.

Generation and Storage

Some systems address energy storage, like hydrogen economy, batteries, compressed air energy storage, and flywheel energy storage but are more open on the question of how the energy is first created. In Vegetable oil the creation and storage are tied together. There is flexibility on which plants are used to make the vegetable oil.

Market / Cost / Price / Taxes

Vegetable oil can be turned into biodiesel. It is estimated that by 2010 the market for biodiesel will be 2 billion gallons in the U.S and 2.5 billion gallons in Europe. [4] Biodiesel currently has 3% of the diesel market in Germany and is the number 1 alternative fuel.[5]

Vegetable oil for biodiesel can cost as little as $1/gallon. [6] The price of palm oil in Malaysia is 1450 ringgit/tonne. [7] This is $415/2205 lbs or $0.188/lb. [8][9] There are about 7.5 lbs per gallon of vegetable oil. [10]. So current price in Malaysia is about $0.188*7.5=$1.41/gallon.

Much of the fuel price at the pump is due to fuel tax. If you buy vegetable oil at the grocery store it does not have such high taxes. So at times people have bought vegetable oil at the store for their cars because it was cheaper. They did this in spite of the fact that it was illegal to use in a car since no fuel tax had been paid on it. [11]

A gas station sells many gallons of fuel at once, without any package. If vegetable oil is sold the same way it could cost less than it does sold by the gallon in a store.

Since vegetable oil does not contribute to greenhouse gas, governments may tax it much less than gasoline as they have done with ethanol.

See also

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