Very complex question. Bio-Diesel can be made from almost any vegetable oil, and all vegetables have oil. Each vegetable oil source has a different energy cost to cultivate, harvest, and rate of return [ie. pounds of oil v pounds of plant product]. Cost to produce feed stock oil for one vegetable oil type can vary widely compared to another. Many factors come into play in setting that price/cost ratio.
The actual trans-esterfication process is a "chemical refining process" in large part and quite efficient if done with good controls on a commercial scale. BTU per pound of ASTM Spec, Bio-Diesel is closely on par with BTU per pound of "Dino-Diesel", unlike the gasoline/ethanol yield energy ratio. Comparison with solar methods? Not an apples to apples comparison. Two different sides of the "alternate energy" basket. Solar to electric power vs Bio-Diesel to BTU doesn't translate. [or maybe I slept through that class in college] As it happens, I designed, built, and got certified, the largest capacity Bio-Diesel commercial plant is USA [at the 2007 time frame] with a design capacity of 20,000,000 gallon per month capacity. So it can be said, "I speak the Bio-Diesel language". Grant... AZ.... "Where diesels roam free" On Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 10:05 AM, Scott and Gwen Ritchey <ritche...@nc.rr.com > wrote: > > Has anyone read an analysis of how bio-Diesel stacks up? Economically? > Energy efficiency (BTU to produce vs BTU produced)? Comparison to other > solar methods? > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
