Biodiesel, dammit! Who cares who Prezza shagged?!
Like I was saying, if we're all happy with the idea of biodiesel, why isn't something being done to promote it? Here's a hippy-leftie hypothesis: The oil companies don't own any farms. They have oil refineries which (admittedly with some investment) could easily be converted to refine vegetable oils. They have tankers, both road and sea, filling stations, staff, the entire network. Sadly it's these giant corporation who are going to make the money when and if biodiesel ever takes off, because they're in a perfect position to sell it to the customer. But they aren't doing it. Why not? Why not, dammit?! I want to know!
Here are some possible reasons:
1) Biodiesel is not as reliable as mineral diesel - it damages engines.
This is true, it can damage some engines, and needs to operate at a slightly higher temperature than mineral diesel. However, engines could easily be developed to run on biodiesel as efficiently as modern diesel engines take mineral diesel. If the oil companies and the car companies talk to each other a bit (it'd be a weird world if they aren't talking already about something), then it'd be an incredibly simple move to make, and with both organisations working together, it would provide a guaranteed return on the investments they made. Cameron would have a new biodiesel Lexus at the drop of a hat, and there are millions more like him.
2) There isn't the agricultural capacity to support the current oil usage with a vegetable-based alternative
So do some of it. Some is better than none.
3) No-one in important government positions, or in high-up places in car and oil companies gives a shit about anything that doesn't affect the time between now and the next election/their next annual bonus
I don't have a reply to this. Anyone?
Here are some possible reasons:
1) Biodiesel is not as reliable as mineral diesel - it damages engines.
This is true, it can damage some engines, and needs to operate at a slightly higher temperature than mineral diesel. However, engines could easily be developed to run on biodiesel as efficiently as modern diesel engines take mineral diesel. If the oil companies and the car companies talk to each other a bit (it'd be a weird world if they aren't talking already about something), then it'd be an incredibly simple move to make, and with both organisations working together, it would provide a guaranteed return on the investments they made. Cameron would have a new biodiesel Lexus at the drop of a hat, and there are millions more like him.
2) There isn't the agricultural capacity to support the current oil usage with a vegetable-based alternative
So do some of it. Some is better than none.
3) No-one in important government positions, or in high-up places in car and oil companies gives a shit about anything that doesn't affect the time between now and the next election/their next annual bonus
I don't have a reply to this. Anyone?
Ben, was this you?
Posted by
Matt |
Tue May 02, 10:01:00 am
It was a joke - admittedly not a very good one. Shall we get botspamprotection?
Posted by
Matt |
Tue May 02, 01:36:00 pm
It's where you have to enter a code before you post a comment. The code is a series of characters read from a picture file (so a bot can't do it automatically). I think I've figured out why no-one is doing this biodiesel thing, by the way.
Posted by
Matt |
Wed May 03, 09:01:00 am