With 100% BioD, we will still rely on foreign oil (Score 2, Informative)

ME: I have 2 diesels, one Jetta TDi and one Powerstroke. Been driving them for years. Expert, no, but lets just say I'm an especially educated and enthusiastic supporter of BioD. I have put B20 to B100 in both tanks.

Problem is, even if we could produce all the BioD we wanted to for nothing, we will STILL rely on foreign oil. Here's why:

Perochemical products like plastics and lubricants still have not been figured out with alternative sources. Things like plastics (the keyboard you are typing on) can not be made without dino oil.

Where do the lube oil basestocks come from that we use in cars and trucks? Natural gas and dino oil. Even synthetic oils start out as some form of foriegn energy source.

What about the chemicals required to make the tires that all these diesels will drive on? Petro based.

High dino diesel prices are not due to foreign oil, its due to limited production due to modernazation (0 ppm sulfer mandated for 2006) and due to hurricanes. It used to cost 1/2 of unleaded. NOw it's street price rivals premium.

The sick sad truth is that the highest yield oil source for BioD is not cash crops like soy and canola, but ALGAE, read = POND SCUM! 98% water, almost 1% extractable oil, 1% other stuff. Easy to produce and extract. Thing is you need 100,000 acre ponds to make the stuff to make it economically viable.

The advances announced will make it safer and cheaper to produce BioD. I have seen picures of BioD processor accidents with methanol and it looks worse than a crystal meth lab gone kerblewy due to poor methanol handling.

This is not the holy grail, but one small step towards a better environment and easier production.

As far as benefits towards the US farmer: its meaningless. Do you know an individual farmer can not sell to anyone other than the domestic grain elevators? Not even to cross the border to Mexico or Canada. He has a product that he can only sell to a limited number of buyers. As a producer, he CAN NOT sell to foreign countries. Think about what each one of you 'makes,' codes, products and think about the export controls you face. They are insignificant compared to you can ONLY sell to ADM/Cargill/Mosanto/Frito Lay!

On th otherhand, cohnsider that Venezuala, or maybe Columbia just shipped over the first tanker full of BioD derived from Palm oil to Miami. That tanker got bought and the BioD went into the pipeline. No import controls whatsoever. BioD is a product like any other comodoty. The national Soy council was PI$$ED because the Bush administration did not listen to its recomendations to protect BioD years ago. Now we are cought with our pants around our ankles.

So, yeay, it sounds like it's a great advance, but we are not totally there yet.

To the most of you who are shaking fists or pom-poms, what do you drive?

Would YOU drive a diesel? How about a diesel-electric hybrid?