Bursting the biodiesel balloon?Regarding your recent article on biodiesel ("The Biodiesel Band Bus," In Brief, November/ December 2005), my friend says that, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. several sources he's seen, the production and refining of the fuel can cause more harm than the use of petroleum products. Also, he told me refineries still use petroleum products to produce biodiesel. Beautiful Flower Bethesda, MD J.M. Responds: It's true that commercial biodiesel is generally refined using methanol methanol, methyl alcohol, or wood alcohol, CH3OH, a colorless, flammable liquid that is miscible with water in all proportions. Methanol is a monohydric alcohol. It melts at −97. , which is itself produced from the methane methane (mĕth`ān), CH4, colorless, odorless, gaseous saturated hydrocarbon; the simplest alkane. It is less dense than air, melts at −184°C;, and boils at −161.4°C;. contained in natural gas. So in that sense it's a fossil fuel fossil fuel: see energy, sources of; fuel. fossil fuel Any of a class of materials of biologic origin occurring within the Earth's crust that can be used as a source of energy. Fossil fuels include coal, petroleum, and natural gas. . But there are no completely clean processes for putting liquid fuel into an automobile. Even in battery-powered cars, the electricity used to power them often comes from a petroleum product. To be pollution-free, your battery vehicle would have to be charged up with electricity from wind, solar or wave power. |
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