1%
 

If 1% of diesel vehicles in the world used veg oil or bio diesel, there would be no room to grow ANY food.

John

it's hydrogen time...
 

That the widespread production of automotive fuel from crops would be an inefficient use of land is I think fairly obvious. It's hard to believe they're even thinking about it (although Brazil has managed for years).
I guess you simply plant what makes money at the time - which is why they grow opium instead of sandwiches in Afghanistan.

After all, it's only govt tax (in the UK - about 70-80%?) that makes diesel far more expensive than veg oil in some countries and which is why we're having this debate. Although in France as you know, most supermarket veg oil is about the same than the latest diesel hike. Deep fried food has clearly not caught on there yet!

Without govt tax, industrially-produced diesel is much cheaper than veg oil - as you'd expect - and running on used veg oil is another matter of course but there cant be that much of that around, can there?

Anyway once Shell own all the farms and fields, there's always what's left of seafood + and birds and insects, if you can catch them ;-)


Ch

For sure the negative side of bio diesel is there - particularly palm oil (which I was using in the 'test mule' golf). But let's face it most of the oil we are talking about here is sunflower/brassica crop based and not originating where there are food shortages. And as we know on a global basis we are pretty crap at balancing areas of agricultural overproduction with areas where people are starving! So what I am trying to say is yes there are major issues with bio fuels, but I wouldn't lose sleep from burning EU cooking oil! My palm oil (originating from a large multinational that own a palm plantation that used to be natural tropical forestry, and in a country where malnutrition is a BIG issue) is a different story...

But, there are some positive sides to bio diesel - example being planting up of degraded tropical land with Jatropha which is extremely hardy, yields quite good oil and stabilises land which otherwise would be extremely marginal, further depleted and allow further desertification.

Gil

Interested to read that people are mixing kerosene & heating oil with thier fuel. I understand the argument about 2500ls of veggie oil before you should technically pay tax, but hasn't kerosene got a colour marker and DNA type marker in it, that you can't get out of your fuel system?

I belive the Ph value of exhaust emissions is used to determine what's in the tank if dipping the tank doesn't show anything.

What's the legal side of using 'marked' fuel, or has the law gone to pot since this 2500l rule, after all if you've legally got 2500l of duty free fuel in the UK does that mean you can any old stuff through and not get taxed?

RTS