Image by Barbara L. Slavin  

Well, this is kind of a two-sided question….unfortunately due to the crashing economy many families are being forced to choose what they pay for and what they don’t. It’s not a pleasant choice, but when there isn’t enough money to cover everything, there is no other choice. And based on reports indicating more people are using public transportation (see this article from Green Car Congress), then I hope those same people are saving enough on fuel costs that they are now able to afford the food their families require.

Then there is the other side to that question…when we are trying to make a greener, healthier environment for ourselves and our children, do we really have to make a choice between being able to use corn for fuel or for food? According to this article on Wired.com, bio-fuels have contributed less than previously thought to rising food prices. And with an apparent 2,500 million metric tons of grain and oilseeds produced each year, U.S. ethanol production uses about 79 million metric tons of corn.

Now, I don’t want to see a shortage of corn, but I do want to see resources used efficiently to make biofriendly products that actually reduce harmful emissions, lower fuel costs and make a greener environment for me, my kids and eventually their kids too.

With all the bio-fuel options (ethanol, fuel additives, bio-diesel, etc) there should be a way to ensure Americans, and the rest of the world, can have both food and biofriendly fuel.

Image by acnatta

According to this article from in.gov the I-65, which runs through Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama, is America’s First Biofuels corridor. With stations selling the biofuels planned to be located every 100 miles or so along the length of the I-65 to make filling up with biofuels a reality in this part of the country.

If the midwest can do it, what about the rest of the US? There is a wide variety of different ideas and companies that are testing and working out the best biofuels or fuel additives. I’d like to see America’s first fuel additive corridor using the Green Plus® liquid fuel catalyst produced by Biofriendly Corporation. Or how about America’s first algae biofuel corridor? Per this article the next generation of biofuels could be made from algae. Now that’s one that I probably wouldn’t have thought of myself, but it’s definitely an abundant resource, which is always key.

The point is, that resources don’t have to be scarce and there are so many ideas out there but unless they are put to the test, they are just ideas. Making a greener environment isn’t just a matter of talking about it, but taking the steps needed to make it happen.

And as an added bonus, think of how much money we could save on gas!

Image by dave_mcmt

Now, I’m going to say right off the bat that I don’t pretend to be knowledgeable about which would be better, a bio-fuel or a fuel additive, but it’s a good question, don’t you think?

Take a look at this article from Macon.com regarding Alterra Bioenergy.  This company started off wanting to make and distribute a bio-diesel product and then due to supply and distribution problems, switched and are now producing a diesel fuel additive.

Is it safer? Is it more cost efficient? I would think that to put bio-diesel into gas stations across the US would be a feat in itself, considering you would have to replace or add new pumps at each station. That’s not to say it won’t happen at some point, but it would get very expensive, whereas with a diesel fuel additive, you just add it to the diesel itself.

But does a fuel additive reduce emissions? Will it make a greener environment? Take a look at this description of Green Plus®, a fuel additive produced by Biofriendly Corporation.  Based on the description of how this fuel additive works, it breaks down the gasoline and diesel in order to both reduce emissions and increase fuel efficiency.

Well, from my viewpoint, either one has got to be more biofriendly than the pollution that is being let into the environment right now. Reducing emissions and cleaning up the air are key and any steps taken to do that are steps in the right direction.

So…bio-fuel, fuel additive or both?

Image by The Marmot

Every week I see gas prices go down, which is great, but I have to be honest that every day I wonder if tomorrow they will go up again. Aren’t we supposed to be getting more alternative fuels, bio-fuels or liquid fuel enhancers to help with our nation’s fuel consumption and to assist in creating a greener environment?

Unfortunately, it’s sometimes hard to keep track of what is happening on these “green” plans. The economy is in such turmoil that certainty about the future of everything from our bank to the mom and pop business down the street to our own homes and yes, even gas and biofriendly fuels, is up in the air.

Treehugger.com seems to be at least one group that keeps on top of the green movement and in this great post they talk about the fact that miles driven by US drivers is down again for the ninth straight month. Now while it probably doesn’t lower harmful emissions that significantly, at least it’s a step in the right direction.

That also means more and more people are using public transportation. So, maybe the next logical step would be investing in alternative fuels or liquid fuel enhancers for public transportation. With the volume of public transportation used in every city across the US, just think of the impact that would have on our environment.

Image by aeu04117

Recently I’ve seen a lot of articles about fuel additives, gas-saving ideas, the future of renewable energy and more. And yes, I’m the type of person who always clicks on the news teasers about the “10 best tips for better gas mileage” or “Can your car go green too?”

Now, I have to say that I was skeptical about being able to increase fuel economy and I’m the first to admit I do drive a large SUV (and will continue to do so with a toddler, an infant and a 70-lb dog to cart around).  However, I know that something needs to be done about not only gas prices, but improving mileage, lowering harmful emissions and overall making a greener environment if we want to have any kind of a healthy future for us and our families.

Then I was shown this article “New York to Los Angeles Run to Promote Biofuel.”Their trek was being done to promote the biofriendly properties of biodiesel.  Not only were these two going to make their trip using Bio-Willie, (a bio-diesel named after Country Music star Willie Nelson), but they were going to go non-stop, without refueling.

So I figured if they could do that, bio-fuels and fuel additives, like the liquid fuel catalyst Green Plus® developed by Biofriendly Corporation were worth checking out.

Certainly when it comes to biofriendly fuel, this would be one of the greenest.  This TreeHugger article talks about the Brazilian Copaifera langsdorfii, the botanical name for the diesel tree.

The diesel tree, which can grow around 30 meters tall, produces and stores a natural diesel in its unusual capillary structure.  The diesel can be extracted by tapping into the tree, in a way similar to the extraction of natural latex from the rubber tree. 

The diesel tree can continue to produce the natural diesel for around seventy years and apparently does not require a complicated refining process – it can be filtered and put straight into a diesel vehicle.  The drawback is that it needs to be used within 3 months after extraction – that, and it’s a tropical rainforest tree.  So if you drive a diesel, live in a tropical rainforest, know how to tap the natural fuel from the tree and have a good filter – then you’re set.  Add some Green Plus to the tank and you have yourself one hellova biofriendly vehicle!

According to the article, one hectare of diesel trees will yield about 12,000 litres of natural diesel per year.  I don’t know how far the diesel tree will go in greening up mother earth, but it sounds wonderfully biofriendly.  Now, if only we could find that tree our parents said didn’t exist – the tree that money grows on!

Now this is the kind of environmental story I like to hear. According to a Reuters article, a new process has been developed that turns chocolate-making waste into a biofuel.

On November 26, a truck using the biofuel will set out on a charity mission, from Poole on the English south coast to Mali in West Africa. The 4,500-mile journey is expected to take around 3 weeks.

English company Ecotech, has used the waste produced from the chocolate manufacturing process and turned it into bio-ethanol, which, when mixed with vegetable oil produces bio-diesel.

“This is to show that you can have environmentally friendly bio-fuels and that you don’t have to convert normal diesel engines to use it,” said Andy Pag who will be one of the drivers for the charity mission.

So it turns out chocolate isn’t such a wicked vice after all. I mean, how wicked can it really be when all you want to do is help save the planet! OK, that might be a wee bit over the top, but certainly that moment on the lips won’t carry with it such tremendous guilt. Of course, that moment on the lips, unfortunately, is a lifetime on the hips as the saying goes. But not to worry, ditch the car where you can and walk it off – that makes it a double dose of goodness for the environment.

What a wonderful reason to enjoy the creamy goodness of melt-in-your-mouth chocolate!