Tag Archives: biodiesel

Can we eat enough fried food for biodiesel to keep trucks running?

Posted on April 15, 2022 by

Fatberg from London sewer If the U.S. can’t make enough biodiesel from plants, then the question becomes: Can we step up our fast-food game? Can we eat more French fries?  Biodiesel is already made from used cooking oil (11.5% of … Continue reading →

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Why it is hard to replace diesel with biodiesel

Posted on April 12, 2022 by

Biodiesel is the great hope, our main hope, the only renewable fuel of all the many options, and the closest to the diesel essential for rail, trucks, and ships to do the actual work of civilization. The U.S. produces over … Continue reading →

Posted in Biodiesel, Food production, Oil, Peak Biofuels, Peak Food, Transportation, Water | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Corn for ethanol & soy for biodiesel tremendously destructive

Posted on April 9, 2022 by

In the news: Cullen A (2024) Corn Belt fertilizer is killing the Gulf of Mexico. Washington Post. About 30 percent of the nitrogen applied for raising corn is lost to water, and much of it right now is draining off … Continue reading →

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Challenges & opportunities for alternative transportation fuels and vehicles. U.S. House hearing, 2011

Posted on June 10, 2018 by

Preface. Congress is aware that an energy crisis looms, though they seldom acknowledge or deal with it.  Here are a few excerpts from this U.S. House hearing (2011) The American energy initiative part 6: Challenges & opportunities for alternative transportation … Continue reading →

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Power density of biomass, wind, & solar take too much land to replace fossil fuels

Posted on May 7, 2018 by

Volumetric versus specific energy density for selected energy carriers. Source: Palmer, G. 2020. Energy storage & civilization: a systems approach. Springer. Preface. Vaclav Smil writes “The fact that wind, solar, and biomass have incredibly low energy density per square meter … Continue reading →

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Peak soil: Industrial agriculture destroys ecosystems and civilizations: Biofuels make it worse

Posted on August 31, 2017 by

Preface. In 2018 I thought it was time to reorganize this post, as it grew more and more bloated and disorganized with new information. Eventually it turned into my 2021 book Life After Fossil Fuels: A Reality Check on Alternative … Continue reading →

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Effects of biodiesel on diesel engines: John Deere

Posted on September 29, 2016 by

[ Since petroleum is finite, the most important focus of U.S. energy research ought to be keeping trucks operating, since civilization ends when trucks stop running.  Ideally this would be done with a “drop-in” fuel that can be burned in … Continue reading →

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Energy generation water consumption

Posted on June 7, 2015 by

[ Notice how much water biofuels use, especially soybeans for biodiesel Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation”, 2015, Springer] Notes from “Working Document of the NPC Future Transportation Fuels Study. Topic … Continue reading →

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Large agribusiness gets corporate welfare via illegal ethanol subsidies

Posted on October 22, 2014 by

What more proof is needed that the Energy Returned on Energy Invested of ethanol is negative?  They’re losing money and getting corporate welfare to keep the scam going, meanwhile destroying prime topsoil, poisoning the land with pesticides, and eutrophying the … Continue reading →

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Germany National Academy of Sciences report: Don’t use biofuels

Posted on August 10, 2012 by

Preface. This German study explains why biomass doesn’t scale up to make biofuels, whether from algae, cellulose, or plants, as well as why trying to do so would harm the environment. Alice Friedemann  www.energyskeptic.com Women in ecology  author of 2021 … Continue reading →

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