Biodiesel: A Cleaner, Greener Fuel for the 21st Century
The most significant limitation as a transportation fuel is its cold-weather performance. It can gel at temperatures below 32 degrees F and must be mixed with petroleum diesel, kerosene or special additives in cold weather. For this reason ( and due to cost), most users of biodiesel as a transportation fuel use a relatively modest B20 blend - this is what I'm using in my VW Passat.
According to Dr. Tyson at NREL, gelling problems were experienced with a B35 blend. "We've seen no problems with B20," she says. Currently, more than 200 vehicle fleets nationwide operate on a biodiesel blend - most with B20, some with lower percentages, B10 or B5.
In warmer climates and during the warmer months in colder climates, some users are having great success with B100. Rockland Materials, Inc., in Phoenix, Arizona has been operating its entire fleet of trucks, as well as other machinery, on B100 biodiesel for about two years. The company has about 120 on-road vehicles (mostly ready-mix concrete trucks) operating without any problems. Grant Goodman, owner, estimates his trucks have driven close to a million miles on biodiesel. They made no modifications - they just started using it. Using biodiesel may even extend engine life, due to its superior lubricating properties.
Using biodiesel instead of petroleum diesel costs the company roughly $200,000-300,000 more per year. When asked how he can justify that cost economically, he said he can't. "It's just the right thing to do," he says. Goodman was quoted in Soybean Digest as saying,"It would nauseate me if I were running all these trucks and knew I could do something about our air quality and didn't. In trucking, we have a huge opportunity to impact the environment positively if choose to do so."
Off-Road Fuel for Heavy Equipment
The benefits are even greater for off-road equipment. Off-road diesel fuel does not have to meet federal low-sulfur standards (500 ppm) and sulfur levels of 2000-3000 ppm are typical. High sulfur petroleum is widely used on thousands of job sites in everything from bulldozers and excavators to cranes and compressors.
Rockland Materials has been operating loaders, excavators, rock-crushers, mining equipment, and generators on B100 without incident. And it hasn't affected equipment warrantees either. "We have the blessings from Caterpillar and Cummins to do that," Goodman says.
Biodiesel as Heating Fuel
Heating oil is a regional fuel used predominantly in the Northeast - 80% of residential heating oil and 49% of commercial is consumed in the six New England and Mid-Atlantic states. Most of this is high sulfur content distillate oil. These applications are prime candidates for biodiesel.
Because heating oil is used primarily in winter months, delivery and storage are significant concerns with biodiesel. The higher the biodiesel fraction, the higher the temperature at which gelling will occur.  This characteristic is known as the "pour point" (the temperature below which the fuel will not pour). For standard petroleum, the pour point is -11F (-24C). For B20 it is 0F (-18C), and for B100 it is 32F (0C).
Biodiesel should be stored at a temperature well above its pour point. For B100, this means storage indoors in a heated space or in an underground tank, depending on the climate. Even B20 may need to be stored underground or indoors in the coldest climates.
The Warwick, Rhode Island School District has been testing various mixes of biodiesel as a heating fuel for the past two heating seasons. Bob Cerio, energy manager for the school system, calls it "the best thing since sliced bread." Following a successful first season of biodiesel use, Cerio began using B20 in all the boilers and he's had no problems at all. His testing shows a reduction in all pollutants, including NOx.
Using biodiesel has increased fuel costs for the Warwick School District. The biodiesel is delivered as B100 and mixed in their tanks. cost of the B100 ranges from $1.30-$1.76 per gallon. This season, he guesses the cost premium will be about 10 cents a gallon. The higher price hasn't been an obstacle so far. "Our school district is willing to spend extra money to get a cleaner fuel that will expose our children to less pollution." Cerio is also integrating energy conservation issues in the curriculum and notes that conservation efforts have saved $2 million in energy costs over the past four years - 25%. If the biodiesel is considered as part of the package, the overall savings are significant.
The Chewonki Foundation in Wiscasset, Maine has also been using biodiesel as heating fuel off and on for the past two years. They started out by purchasing commercially produced B100 but began making their own biodiesel from used cooking oil two years ago. Peter Arnold, of the nonprofit environmental educational organization, picks up the used cooking oil from area restaurants. He hoists 55-gallon drums into his truck using a small hydraulic barrle hoist mounted in the bed. Back at the Chewoonki Foundation, he processes the oil into biodiesel in an old pole barn now known as the Biodiesel Center. Currently, he's producing 3000-5000 gallons of B100 per year. 

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For More Information:
National Biodiesel Board
US EPA Office of Transportation & Air Quality
US DOE National BioFuels Program
World Energy
Chewonki Foundation

Excerpted FROM Environmental Building News, January 2003, a SustainableBusiness.com Content Partner
 

Greenpeace True Food Network
Monsanto CEO Resigns -Profits Down 50%

Despite the latest industry hype, all is not well for the Gene Giants.
Monsanto, seller of 80 percent of the
genetically engineered seeds on the market, announced in
December that their CEO, Hendrik Verfaillie,
would resign. The news came on the heels of the
corporation's economic downturn -profits dipped 50
percent from January 2002. The sale of the herbicide
Roundup accounts for half of Monsanto's sales. The
company was sold off by Pharmacia late last year over
growing concerns about the company's risky
ventures into agriculture genetic engineering.
In related news, researchers are finding increasing weed
resistance to glyphosphate, the active ingredient in Roundup.

For more information on Monsanto, check out: http://www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.html

For more information on GE Wheat, check out the
Greenpeace report:
http://www.greenpeace.ca/e/resource/publications/gmo/daily_bread.pdf
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Check out the Greenpeace Year-In Review at
http://www.truefoodnow.org/


Want to do more? Become a Greenpeace member today!
To give online, go to:
https://www.greenpeaceusa.org/join2/list.htm

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The First 10 Amendments to the
Constitution as Ratified by the States
December 15, 1791

Preamble

Congress OF THE United States
begun and held at the City of New York, on Wednesday
the Fourth of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine.

THE Conventions of a number of the States having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best insure the beneficent ends of its institution

RESOLVED by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following Articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all or any of which Articles, when ratified by three fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of the said Constitution; viz.:

ARTICLES in addition to, and Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the several States, pursuant to the fifth Article of the original Constitution.

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II

A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.

Amendment III

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

Amendment VII

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

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