Done right, biodiesel is the only alternative that actually removes CO2 from the atmosphere. The plant (algae) removes CO2 from the atmosphere and converts it into oil and plant matter. Only the oil is used in biodiesel.

A number of universities are planning algae-based sites in the desert Southwest. Because the water they use is necessarily sterile, the algae farmers use little of that. In addition, they plan to use polluted runoff from farms (lots of nitrogen).

Biodiesel can be added directly to existing diesel, so the delivery mechanism is already in place.

Finally, biodiesel produces little soot, but can be made to produce more. Power-generating plants could produce and capture a great deal of soot from the generating process (and it could be put into our tires and paved into our roads. That soot represents a lot of CO2 removed from the air.

I am way pro-biodiesel.

Willie Nelson makes biodiesel out of Mexican food grease. It can also be made of algae or sheet grass, which grows in rows in laboratories. How does this compete with our food supply?

Also, the emissions from biodiesel pale in comparison to traditional diesel or regular gasoline.

Solar and wind energy is incredibly expensive and currently inefficient. Unlike diesel, it would require huge subsidies to get off the ground. Diesel is a technology that is a step above a lawn mower. It is already being used in dozens of countries around the world and has been for over a century. There seems to be much misinformation about it among the traditional press.

1. They compete for land use with crops – Which with a looming Global Food Crisis it doesn’t make sense to restrict farmable land.

2. It still contributes to emisions and contributes to global warming.

Personally (with the technology that currently exists) I think that harvested wind and solar energy turned into electricity is the way to power cars in the near future.

I would be as pessimistic as you, but I also appreciate what biodiesel can be made of. Currently Willie Nelson’s bus runs on Mexican food grease. It can be made from algae or switch grass, which can be literally grown in sheets. It’s just energy. It’s in everything.

Without subsidies, it will be very difficult to understand the most efficient ways of creating diesel. I do not believe that there is an easy way to convert every car tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean we should attempt to catch up with the rest of the world when it comes to biodiesel.

I’m all for alternative fuels, and every little bit helps I guess, but biodiesel will never be the answer because right now it is not efficient, and there is just not enough farmland to support a full independence from fossil fuels.

Just my two cents but great post!

Thanks for bringing this issue to light. I think many people feel that there’s not much they can do, but if every one of us spoke out just once, change might happen faster.

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