Ralph, There is a political base for soybeans and other vegetable products that can be used to make biodiesel because of the " farm lobby ". Farmers get money or "subsidies" for crops they can`t grow and bring to market. That is to say, if you are a farmer and have enough land to grow an extremely large amount of something, but can`t grow it because there wouldn`t a market for it. Then you are paid by the Fed. Gov. a subsidy ( money ) to grow a smaller amount of that crop instead of growing the larger amount that you could have grown, but would have lost money if you had. The farmers here in this country see biodiesel as a market for those crops ( soybeans ) , and our Government is all for it because that means less subsidies to pay out. Same thing for Ethanol ( corn ) farmers, they want money for corn they can`t grow and sell because now soybeans are the " darlings " of the moment. Read University of Idaho, they are behind the big push for soybean biodiesel! Iowa is where the ethanol boys are. No offense meant to any of you "green guys" from those two states. Waste vegetable oil just doesn`t have a political base. Farmers can`t grow it so the Feds just don`t see any reason to be in favor of it. I mean no offense to the farmers either because they have to earn a living also and they have their lives tied up in the land and without them we would be chaos in no time flat! It`s a bad situation for everyone !! I still prefer WVO because otherwise it winds up as just another pollutant!!! Hope I didn`t make a mess of that attempt at an answer.
David Cruse ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ralph Chamberlain" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <biofuel@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2001 11:35 AM Subject: [biofuel] Farmers seek boost from veggie fuel > I just read an article in the Sunday paper distributed by Associated Press about the lobbying efforts of farmers to mandate the use of biodiesel as an additive in diesel fuel. > > Unfortunately, the press is somewhat bad. It states that biodiesel costs three times as much to produced as diesel. Is that a right amount? It also states that that biodiesel is not a cleaner energy than natural gas??? and that it will "slow the switch" to natural gas??? > > The gang is all there to fight. It seems from the article that truckers, railroads, environmentalists and the airlines have teamed up to fight legislation against its mandatory use. > > My question is this, does biodiesel costs three times as much to produce? (will it drive up the cost of diesel and aviation fuel) Doesn't the emissions from a 20% biodiesel/diesel mixture reduce pollution?(and hopefully meet the new standards set for year 2007 EPA regs). Finally what is the subsidized ethanol pricing? > > Ralph Chamberlain > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > To unsubscribe, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
