Products

The History Of Biodiesel: A Renewable Energy Source
Renewable energy sources have been available for many hundreds of years and this was realized in those times. It can be created from the oil of various vegetable products including hemp, soybean, peanut and canola amongst others. These products are just as effective as petroleum based products and the history of biodiesel is really very interesting.

Renewable energy sources have been available for many hundreds of years and this was realized in those times. It can be created from the oil of various vegetable products including hemp, soybean, peanut and canola amongst others. These products are just as effective as petroleum based products and the history of biodiesel is really very interesting.

Rudolph Diesel who designed diesel driven motors was the first to make use of renewable energy from plant sources. He used peanut oil to manufacture a product which would drive his engines. He also understood the importance of not becoming dependent on fossil fuels and wanted to prove that renewable sources were better.

It is strange that not more people know that biodiesel was used regularly and was the only product used in the diesel engine up until the 1920's. This was when the production of petroleum based fuels became more prolific. Henry Ford was a profound supporter of the theory of biofuels as these fatty acids are able to produce ethanol and methanol to drive engines. In fact he believed this was the future of fuels and build a special factory for the manufacture of these fuels. He believed that every vehicle he produced could be driven by this fuel.

When he commenced with this, he was in the top of his market and embarked on partnerships with natural oil companies. However in the 1940's petroleum based companies started advertising and as petroleum fuel was cheaper at the time, this fossil based fuel soon became the number one best seller.

Hemp has been grown for its many properties and it was grown in the US to provide a source for oil to create biofuels. It was found that substances such as peanut and soyabean oil were only able to create small amounts of biofuel, whereas hemp manufactured bigger quantities. Henry Ford realized this substance could be used to revitalize his oil manufacturing plant.

In the same breath, many oil wells had been found in the US and people were getting extremely rich from selling this oil to manufacture petroleum. They were not prepared to give Henry Ford a market share with his products and started a campaign against the hemp oil product, calling it Marijuana.

The Act prevented anyone from the possession of Hemp (Marijuana) without an appropriate license and the Government would not issue these licenses. This Act effectively stamped out the production of biofuel, as the man in the street was afraid they would be breaking the law if they were in possession of it. This in brief is the history of Biodiesel.

About the Author:

 

Recommended Products





Advertisement