Global Potential for Biodeisel is "ENORMOUS"
One of the renewable energy sources that's attracted a lot of attention is biodiesel, obtained by converting the fats and oils in agricultural products into a burnable diesel fuel. At the moment, a lot of biodiesel production occurs in small-scale pilot programs, but a report completed by the University of Wisconsi
n's Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE) indicates its global potential is enormous: over 400 billion liters annually, well more than double the amount of diesel the US burns every year. The report also provides a detailed look into what may be more significant questions: can this potential be realized and, if so, how?
The report lays out a compelling rationale for a focus on biodiesel. The fuel can be refined from existing sources of lipids using a process that operates at normal atmospheric pressures and temperatures, and can work across a range of scales from local to industrial. Production works with plants that grow on marginal lands, and research is underway to develop lipid sources from algae that live in salt water...
