Driving with a Conscience On vegetable oil, biodiesel and other alternative fuels

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Driving with a Conscience?On vegetable oil,
bio-diesel and other alternative fuels

• Daniel Fernandez
• Division of Science and Environmental Policy

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Important Facts

• 41 of all greenhouse gases
• generated in California come
• from mobile transportation.
• California - the worlds
• 12th largest GHG producer.

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A little history

• What was the first internal-combustion engine?
• The cannon!

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Some early fuels

• Gunpowder
• Marsh gas
• Illuminating gas
• Ethyl alcohol
• Coal (steam engine, external combustion)
• Turpentine fumes
• Coal gas
• Hydrogen

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Why are fossil fuels a problem?
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What are biofuels?

• Plants create sugars and oils through
  photosynthesis.

CO2
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• Sugars and oils biofuels

CO2
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Whats so great about bio-fuels?

• No net gain in atmospheric CO2! (in theory)

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• All biofuels are not created equal!

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Some biofuels

• Ethanol fermentation of the sugar
• Corn based
• Sugar-cane based (Brazil).
• Switchgrass, cellulostic.

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More biofuels

• Biodiesel

lye
alcohol
Vegetable oil

biodiesel
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More on biodiesel

• Biodiesel
• Slightly lower energy content than diesel fuel
• Can be made from almost any type of vegetable or
  animal fats/oils.
• Biodegradable.
• Burns cleaner than diesel fuel
• lower particulate
• slightly higher NOx
• lower sulfur
• lower CO2

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Algae as a source of biodiesel
www.energypowershift.com
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(No Transcript)
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(Bigger is better here)
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Lets consider the diesel engine.

• Why the diesel???
• Arent they loud, sooty and smelly?

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Why diesel?

• Great efficiency 50 mpg in recent models.
• 1997 VW Passat TDI
• 39 mpg on diesel
• 38 mpg on biodiesel

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Why diesel?

• Longevity.
• Newer diesels effective at reducing
  characteristic soot, NOx emissions, sulfur
  compounds, and smell.
• Can use biodiesel.

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USA Current fuel diet

• About 140 billion gallons of gasoline each year
• About 70 billion gallons of diesel each year.

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• Could we convert completely to biodiesel and grow
  our own oil through algae, or other high-yield
  crop and then convert it to biodiesel?
• 10 million acres needed for algae (compare to 450
  million acres used for crop farming today).
• Cost - 310 billion to build, 50 billion/year
  to maintain.
• Compare to 100-150 billion spent on foreign oil
  each year.

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A personal story my use of vegetable oil, a
hobby
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How does it work?
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Some interesting numbers (to me, anyway)

• Gallons of vegetable oil used so far 602
  gallons (nearly 12000 miles)
• Average mileage (includes biodiesel) 18.2 mpg

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A means to filter the oil to remove particles
larger than 5 microns.
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I try to do my own auto work whenever possible
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What I have learned by collecting my own fuel?

• How much a full tank really weighs.
• A visceral way to equate liquid volume with
  distance (prop).
• A greater appreciation for the energy and carbon
  output required to travel from place to place.
• A tradeoff between time and money, greater
  engagement.

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Direction for the future

• An engine and the fuel it consumes are
  inseparable partners (Cummins)
• And so are we and our earth