What Is The Environmental Cost Of Soy Biodiesel, The New "wonder Fuel"?

Soy Biodiesel is Biodiesel fuel manufactured from the simple soy bean. While it is true that any vegetable oil can be used in Biodiesel manufacturing, soy beans do offer some excellent advantages.

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Soybeans grow quickly, less than 6 months from sowing the seed to harvesting the bean. Soybeans also produce a high yield of Biodiesel - a single bushel of soybeans will produce almost 1.5 gallons of soy Biodiesel. As Soy Biodiesel is a clean burning renewal fuel there are the obvious benefits for the environment.

A word of caution before embracing this new "wonder fuel": Environmentalist groups fear that farmers do not use safe or sustainable practices when cultivating new crops such as soybeans. (For example, the planting of coffee, sugar cane and cotton to meet a new, consumer-based demand has had devastating consequences for the environmental.) This is particularly true for developing countries such as Indonesia where the fear is that farmers will destroy vast regions of old rainforest just to produce soybeans. This will impact the whole world through irreparable global warming. Growing soy for the purpose of fuel, rather than food, also present some ethical challenges

When compared to regular petroleum diesel, Soy Biodiesel has some significant performance advantages. For starters, it increases engine lubricity by up 66% with only 2% additive. This has the effect of reducing engine vibration and therefore lowers engine wear, reduces engine repairs, and can significantly extend engine life. Also, the Biodiesel derived from 100% virgin soybean oil in the 2% blend meets ASTM standards.

Here are some key milestones in the take-up of Soy Biodiesel in the Unites States: 1993 - First soy Biodiesel vehicle fleet pilot. 1996 - Soy Biodiesel producers with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1998 - Soy Biodiesel deemed to comply with federal clean air regulations. 2001 - First fuel suppliers in the mid-west offer soy Biodiesel to farmers. 2002 - Soy Biodiesel demonstration vehicle makes return trip logging 300,000+ miles. 2005 - Federal tax incentive reduces cost of soy Biodiesel to the consumer.

Finally, lets restate the benefits of soy Biodiesel to the environment. Growing soybean plants adds oxygen to the air and help clean the air as the plants remove carbon dioxide through the process of photosynthesis. This can help reduce global warming. Soy Biodiesel has the added environmental benefit of reducing our dependence on petroleum fuel. This benefits the environment because the process of extracting crude oil destroys the ground surrounding the oil well. Processing petroleum also creates pollution in the atmosphere.