World's Largest Biodiesel Plant To Be Built in Iowa
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada 
on 08.16.05
The very large, soon-to-be-built Iowa plant (two 100,000 square-foot buildings [almost 20,000 square meters]) will use soybeans from local farmers and produce 37.5 million gallons of biodiesel per year. Politicians from the region have been falling over each other to praise the project, calling it good for agriculture, good for US national security, good for jobs and the economy, etc. "The cost of biodiesel is still higher than regular diesel. In almost every area, biodiesel outperforms regular diesel. So, it's been strictly a cost issue," Iowa Energy Center spokesman Norm Olson said. Demand for biodiesel has been higher than the supply for a while, so the new plant won't have much trouble finding buyers, especially since by the time it's operational the price of oil will almost certainly be higher than it is now.
::Work to begin on massive biodiesel plant in northern Iowa, ::Biodiesel plant plans on track
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Question:
Is burning biodiesel better than burning regular diesel? Why? I assume it is, otherwise it wouldn't end up on sites like this. I guess as it grows it reduces some greenhouse gases.
WITHOUT going into a complete lifecycle analysis, the burning of biodiesel itself (and other biofuels) is carbon neutral -- the way it works is that plants take carbon from the atmosphere and stock it, biofuel is made when them and when it is burned that carbon is put back into the atmosphere. Fossil fuels take carbon that wasn't in the atmosphere (or hasn't been in it for millions of years, anyway) and send it to the atmosphere.
Biodiesel also reduces emissions of smog-producing pollutants and apparently help engines last longer.
Oh, and it can also be made from waste-vegetable oil (ie. from restaurants or food-processing factories), which is the greenest source.
Furthermore, it's less of an irratant on the skin than soap, while diesel is straight up toxic to touch. The halflife of biodiesel in water is negligible and hasn't been shown to adversely effect the environment around it while a petrol spill in water is horrific to the surrounding environment.
While biodiesel does release emissions, they're consistently much lower than those released by conventional diesel (with the exception of nitrogen oxides, which are usually slightly higher). Lastly, we here at TH are big fans of bio-diesel because of its sustainable nature as MGR explained. Even though emissions are still being spit out the tailpipe, somewhere out there is a plant sucking in dirty co2 and releasing delicious oxygen. Soon that little plant will be chopped down to fuel my station wagon and another will rise to replace it.
If you'd like to learn more, there's a book out there simply entitled "BioDiesel" - it's an excellent read, really informative and well structured, without being too technical or granola-esque.
What can you tell me about the physical aspects of this type of plant that's coming to Iowa? Does the plant produce offensive oders and excess noise. How does bio-diesel compare to regular fuels as far as flamibilty and combustion. I am a strong believer in supporting farmers, new developement, industrial progress and cleaner burning fuels. However, I also would like to preserve the cleanliness and curb appeal that draws so many to our community. Thanks, Rod