What exactly Biofuels?

July 29, 2008 by micro-e  
Filed under Biodiesel, Energy

Biofuels provide a potential route to avoiding the global political instability and environmental issues that arise from reliance on petroleum. Currently, most biofuel is in the form of ethanol generated from starch or sugar, but this can meet only a limited fraction of global fuel requirements. Biofuels are a dead end that will slow the adoption of the only feasible solution for personal highway travel. Electrical cars powered by batteries or capacitors are the most technically available and environmentally benign solution. Biofuels are considered neutral with respect to the emission of carbon dioxide because the carbon dioxide given off by burning them is balanced by the carbon dioxide absorbed by the plants that are grown to produce them. The use of biofuels as an additive to petroleum-based fuels can also result in cleaner burning with less emission of carbon monoxide and particulates.

Biofuels in the North are generally derived from feedstocks such as corn and rapeseed that have low energy efficiency and require expensive inputs. And since most arable land in the North is already under cultivation, biofuels are likely to compete with food crops if expansion continues. Biofuel will affect the Amazon rain forest in four ways. First, there will be increased biofuel production in some form. Biofuel means using biological material for energy. Like burning wood in a woodstove for heat.
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Biodiesel and Its Impact on the Environment

July 21, 2008 by micro-e  
Filed under Biodiesel

Biodiesel has been getting its share of interest among people in the search for alternative fuels. The cost of oils has been steadily going up in the worldwide market and many think it is time to find alternative sources to tone down in some way the rising costs of using gas and other petroleum-derived fuels. One of the alternatives found to have promise is the production of biodiesel.

Biodiesel refers to a type of processed fuel that can be derived from biological sources. It can be readily used in diesel engine vehicles. This distinguishes it from the use of straight vegetable oils (SVO) or waste vegetable oils (WVO) as the chosen alternative which requires vehicles to have modified diesel engines installed in order to make use of such fuels.

What makes biodiesel also an ideal alternative is that it is biodegradable and non-toxic. Biodiesel also provides considerably fewer combustion emissions when compared to petroleum-based diesel fuel.

Since biodiesel can readily be used in current diesel engines without having to modify them, it has the potential to supplement the use of petroleum-based fuels as a primary energy source to fill up the need of the world’s transportation sector. And not only that, biodiesel holds the promise of being used as a cheaper alternative heating fuel for domestic and commercial boilers.
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The Best Biodiesel Filter for You

July 21, 2008 by micro-e  
Filed under Biodiesel, Energy

The processing of biodiesel may require a number of biodiesel filters in order to ensure that the end product is of excellent quality. When you try to recycle waste vegetable or surplus corn oil and make them into biodiesel, you might need a biodiesel filter for your engine to make sure that contaminants can’t enter into the engine and damage it. Different biodiesel filters may be required for a number of different applications.

Biodiesel filters should have the following properties in order to work best in any given conditions:

1. High Temperature Properties. Almost any filter media can be used for water-based products. But in the case of filtering hot oils, resins and other high temperature products, a filter media that can withstand prolonged exposure to high temperatures is preferred. Biodiesel filters should be able to have excellent high temperature properties to be able to handle the filtration of biodiesel well enough.

2. Excellent Filtering. Biodiesel filters should be able to filter out the contaminants well enough in order to make a better grade product. All filters have a micron rating that determines the size of the particles that can be effectively captured by the filter media. A biodiesel filter having a 5 micron rating is preferred to provide excellent filtering properties.
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