There is a rising concern among Americans to find a more reliable and safer source of fuel to replace those we are using now which is made from fossil based fuels. This is caused by the growing concerns over the fast depleting supply of underground fuel and the rising prices of oil. Additionally most of these fuels are imported from foreign countries that have been subtly linked to supporting sporadic acts of terrorism worldwide.
To accommodate these challenges, there are a few solutions up there that may put an end to this rising concerns. We turn to other sources of alternative energy to reduce the dependence on fossil based fuel. Yet how effective are these solutions? Are they practical and can they be implemented on a larger scale. The answer is yes and the most popular form of alternative energy around is bio fuels. These are totally renewable sources of energy that can easily be replenished. Let’s look at biodiesel a little close and how they can help alleviate our problem of fuel dependence.
Biodiesel are fuel made from biomass which would include oil from plant or animals including used oil or a combination of both. As much as we would like to believe that these green fuels would the problem we have will remove our dependence there are also some other issues that need to be considered as well.
- Shortage of Land
Growing crops that are specifically targeted for the biodiesel industry creates a shortage of land and resources that would otherwise be used to grow food. This would add to the problem of world food shortage and exacerbates the problem. The best way to overcome this would be o use a more natural way to get those raw materials for making biodiesel. Algae biodiesel seems the perfect choice for this. It can grow literally anywhere even on land which is unsuitable for growing other types of crops.
2. Energy to Grow Plants
Growing those plants for biodiesel purposes involves more than just panting those shrubs. You’ll need extra resources to care for them, apply fertilizer and finally harvest and process them. This is another actor that needs to be taken into consideration when conceding biodiesel as the fuel of the future. Again, algae colonies seem to be free from this issue. You can cultivate algae easily. It just needs three things to survive and thrive-water, sunlight and carbon dioxide. It is the perfect solution to those who live in heavy industrial areas where there is excess of carbon dioxide o the air. Also these tiny plants grow well even in sewage area. It can turn waste water into lipid that are high in oil and energy power.
- Limited Use
Biodiesel can only be used on cars and vehicles that run on diesel. This makes it very limited. Until everyone runs cars on biodiesel engine, the usage of these fuels can be strictly limited to hybrid cars or cars that are modified to allow for these fuels to run smoothly into the combustion chamber. This solution would take a few years to implement, but we need to create a technology that would convert that biodiesel fuel into gasoline or to convert the existing engines to run on biodiesel.