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n i< \r \IC C C I
D lk J U IC o C L
A SIMPLE SOLUTION TO
A COMPLEX PROBLEM
BY JONNIE DUNNE
Biodiesel is a renewable, clean burning fuel derived from
vegetable oils that can be used in virtually any diesel engine. It
has been successfully road tested for millions of miles and has
recently received increasing attention as oil resources become
scarce. In 1912, Rudolf Diesel, inventor of the diesel engine,
predicted this recent interest, stating, “The use of vegetable oils
for engine fuels may seem insignificant today, but such oils may
become, in the course of time, as important as petroleum." While
Diesel foresaw and promoted the economic need for vegetable
oils, he could never have predicted the urgent need for environ
mental stewardship we face a hundred years later. All around
the world, health concerns such as cancer are becoming urgent,
while global climate change threatens various environmental
processes. When compared to traditional diesel fuels, the prop
erties of biodiesel show promise to reduce many of these health
issues, and the use of biodiesel can decrease the environmental
harm associated with petroleum use.
The physical properties of biodiesel alone are attractive
when compared to petrodiesel (the common term for traditional
diesel fuel). Biodiesel is vastly safer to handle than petrodiesel;
it has a flashpoint of 320 degrees Fahrenheit, compared to 143
degrees for standard diesel. This means that biodiesel will not
ignite as easily as petrodiesel, and is actually classified as a non
flammable liquid by the Occupational Safety & Health Adminis
tration. This property protects all those who come in contact with
biodiesel; those who produce it, those who transport and sell it,
and those who use it. The same cannot be said for petrodiesel.
This property has made biodiesel a popular choice in public
transit vehicles in which the safety of passengers is of utmost
concern.
On the occasion that a user of biodiesel comes in
physical contact with the product, they are again at lower risk
than those handling petrodiesel. Biodiesel has been shown to be
at least as biodegradable as sugar, ten times less toxic than salt,
and less irritating to the skin than a 4% soap and water solution.
It has also been shown that ingesting biodiesel is not harmful to
lab mice, while ingesting even a small amount of petrodiesel can
prove fatal. Naturally, the benign nature of the product translates
into much cleaner emissions.
Biodiesel is produced only from vegetable oils and an
alcohol cataylist, while petrodiesel is generally heavily processed
from low quality crude oil. The result of this disparity is that
emissions of biodiesel are drastically reduced when compared
to petrodiesel. Studies published by organizations such as the
US. Department of Energy and Department of Agriculture have
consistently shown that carbon dioxide emissions are reduced
by 78%, carbon monoxide by 50%, particulate matter by 65%,
aromatic hydrocarbons by 71%, and a slight reduction in noxious
oxide. All of these reductions have been shown to have very
significant effects on the health of those in contact with the
fumes.
Recent mutagenicity studies have shown that developing
organisms exposed to biodiesel exhaust are, when compared to
petrodiesel exhaust, much less likely to form mutations. This is
especially important when considering the use of petrodiesel
fuels in school buses. Due mostly to stress fractures in exhaust
lines and poorly designed vehicles, emissions in Los Angeles
school buses have been found to be eight times higher than
the ambient emissions around them. Biodiesel in this case
cuts right to the root of a very significant concern — preventing
health problems in children that may appear later in life as
a result of early mutations. A host of other health issues
associated with diesel emissions are recognized in the Clean
Air Act, in which biodiesel is the only alternative fuel recognized
as being compliant in reducing the threats.
Perhaps the greatest health risk associated with petro
diesel is cancer. Cancer claims millions of lives each year, and
biodiesel has shown the potential to reduce these deaths. The
Environmental Protection Agency has reported that the 65%
decrease in particulate emissions results in a 94% decrease
in the risk of cancer from biodiesel fumes. Other dangerous
chemicals found in petrodiesel fumes such as sulfur are
responsible for increasing cancer threats. Due to the organic
nature of biodiesel versus the mineral nature of petrodiesel,
some of these agents are completely eliminated. While this
reduction of cancer and other health risks is undoubtedly
impressive, biodiesel affects the environment much more
significantly, which in turn improves human life much more
effectively.
Diesel fuels are used in a wide range of applications,
in the sea, on land, underground or in the sky, in urban and
rural settings. Everywhere diesel engines are used, fumes are
pumped into the environment, profoundly affecting the Earth.
In addition to the fumes, the extraction and production of fossil
fuels in general has proved to be disastrous. It was John Muir,
the famous conservationist, who wrote, “When we try to pick
out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the
universe.’ This is especially so when considering the effects of
oil use.Oil has been one of the most commonly used substances
in the world since the late 1880s, and the aggregate damage
caused by its use over these years requires immediate attention.
While some of the damage is simply irreversible, the use of
biodiesel can significantly reduce the ecological impact of the
systems used today, and allow natural systems to repair them
selves in the future.
The most visible effects of petrodiesel use can be seen
on land around the world. Overland transportation is the most
common use of diesel fuels, and the fuel itself is commonly
extracted from and refined on land. As fossil fuels become
scarce, more environmentally sensitive areas are being targeted
in order to meet increasing demand in conjunction with decreas
ing supply. These areas, such as the Alaskan National Wildlife
Reserve, may provide habitat for endangered species, but facts
like these are overlooked in the name of profit. New methods
are also increasingly insensitive, such as the extraction of oil
from tar sands in Alberta, Canada. The oil in this area is difficult
and ecologically expensive to extract. Huge tracts of land are
dug up, leaving large craters in areas that were formerly
migration routes for thousands of Canadian animals. The
process itself involves pulling sands through the bottoms of the
craters, pulverizing two tons of it, mixing it with hot water, and
RAESIDE
pumping it in huge centrifuges to separate out a single barrel
of oil. The waste-water from the process is then used to flush
out any of the remaining minerals.
This oil must then be refined into products consumers
use, another complex system that creates even more pollution,
mostly in the form of waste-water.
In contrast, biodiesel production does just the opposite.
The oil used in biodiesel comes from plants, which carry out
photosynthesis and convert carbon dioxide into oxygen. The
fanning required to do so could “help considerably in the devel
opment of agriculture of the countries which use it," according to
Rudolf Diesel, and increased agriculture would mean increased
carbon dioxide exchange.
The reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is
incredibly important when considering the effects of petrodiesel
use on land. Excessive loads of carbon dioxide in the atmos
phere cause rain to become more acidic, and the effects of this
phenomena known as acid rain can be devastating for certain
environmentally sensitive areas. Many plants have a specific
tolerance for acidity levels, and acid rain can cause incredible
damage to entire ecosystems.
Acid rain also obviously affects another enormous and
vastly important part of the environment, the water. Rain that
has become acidic and fallen to the ground may be stored as
groundwater in aquifers for an average of 40 years. While acid
rain may reduce plant populations on land, it has been shown
to be absolutely devastating for fish and other aquatic wildlife.
John Muir’s quote affirms the urgency of the situation. At the
first United Nations Environment Council in Stockholm in 1972,
this was kept in mind, as the council resolved to cooperate in
the reduction of acid rain. One of the key strategies the UN is
implementing is promoting biodiesel use.
The use of biodiesel has also been recommended as a
solution to the international problem of oil spills. The biodegrade-
ability of biodiesel has been especially well documented in the
aquatic environment. Being ten times less toxic than table salt is
the main factor that separates it from petrodiesel, and drastically
reduces the threat of oil spills.
An excellent contemporary example is the oil spills that
occurred as a result of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Following the
disaster, it was reported that 143 refineries along the Gulf Coast
had spilled over 7 million gallons of oil into the ocean. Nineteen
oil rigs actually broke from their supports and drifted to sensitive
estuaries and deltas that line the coast. The resulting spills killed
more than 700 endangered brown pelicans, and some marshes
were so saturated with petroleum that igniting them was the only
method that could effectively remove the oil. Had this been bio
diesel, or at least a biodiesel blend, the effects would have not
been as devastating. Biodiesel has been found to be readily
VAN PUSEN BEVERAGES
ASTORIA, OREGON »■ 325-2302
biodegradable in the aquatic environment, and biodiesel blend
triples the biodegration of diesel.
Other catastrophic oil spills, such as the Prestige spill
in Spain, the Sea Empress disaster in South Wales, or the
Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska in 1989, in which 41 million liters
of oil were spilled and cleaned at a cost of $2.1 billion, would
have been much easier to manage if biodiesel were used as
commonly as petrodiesel. While oil spills are a serious problem
that can be devastating to the immediate area, they are only
temporary when compared to the prolonged and permanent
problem of carbon imbalance in the oceans.
Oceans are a natural “bank" of carbon, and the effects
of increased carbon levels from petrodiesel use are not immedi
ately visible. Global oceans are referred to as a carbon sink,
meaning the gigantic bodies of water absorb atmospheric carbon
dioxide, a property that has greatly decreased the effects of
carbon dioxide emissions. Since 1750, carbon dioxide levels
have increased by 30%, from 275 parts per million, to 365 today,
65% of which is due to burning fossil fuels. However, the oceans
are quickly reaching saturation, meaning they will soon no longer
be able to absorb the excessive levels of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere. When this occurs, the effects of the increasing
carbon dioxide will be greatly amplified, as the oceans currently
take up one-quarter of atmospheric carbon.
Again, biodiesel reduces carbon dioxide emissions by
78% over petrodiesel, and the need to reduce carbon dioxide
emissions is extremely urgent. This is because the rate of carbon
exchange is extremely slow, measured in hundreds of thousands
of years, due to the fact that a single dissolved carbon atom
remains in the ocean for an average of more than 500 years.
Carbon, being the fourth most abundant element on Earth, and
the chemical that all life is based on, is very important to the
healthy functioning of ocean life. The carbon cycle is integral
to many important processes, the most significant of which is
upwelling. Upwelling mixes nutrients in offshore waters, which
supports coastal fisheries, which support estuaries, which in turn
supports coastal forests, and so on.
The effects of increased carbon dioxide are much more
visible in the media when they are related specifically to the
atmosphere. Global climate change has received massive
amounts of media attention and is incredibly well-documented,
especially in respect to temperature. While climate change is a
natural and cyclical phenomenon, global average temperatures
have recently risen above any ever recorded; direct observation
has shown the average temperature across the entire Earth has
risen 1 degree Fahrenheit. This might not seem terribly drastic,
but the warming is projected to increase; eight of the hottest
years on record have occurred, since 1996, and the global
average temperature is expected to increase 4 degrees Fahren
heit by 2050 Again, the effects of this phenomenon are well
documented. The single simple factor of increasing global
temperatures would likely kill off many rare and delicate plants,
reducing biodiversity and weakening ecosystems. In addition
to harming the environment, global warming would also be
devastating to many human populations. Low-lying islands such
as Tuvalu would be nearly submerged if polar ice caps were to
melt due to global warming. The cause of ail this devastation, a
30% increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide since the Industrial
Revolution could be significantly reduced through the use of
biodiesel.
This vast interconnectedness of nature is an inevitable
property of life that humans must learn to understand and
respect. It is a difficult concept to fully grasp, but the potential
for good to harness this model is boundless. The use of biodiesel
in place of petrodiesel immediately affects those who come in
contact with it, providing safety and reducing fatal health risks,
and drastically reduces the global environmental harm that is
caused by burning fossil fuels. Problems such as global warming
are generally beyond the scope of our own perception, but
through examination of the characteristics of biodiesel, it is
obvious that many of the urgent health and environmental
problems we face today are greatly mitigated by the simple
choice of using biodiesel.
A M A gallery
ASTORIA VUSUAL ARTS
1 6 0 10™ ST., ASTORIA
BACK ON THE BLOCK 2 DOORS DOW N
Johnnie Dunne is a 2006 graduate of Astoria High
School He and fellow graduate Sydney Lane have produced
biodiesel for a senior physics class and have contracted to*
partially fuel the Astoria Trolley and two shuttle buses, which
they estimate will have carried 100,000 people by summer's
end Johnnie will attend Willamette University in the fall, and
plans to major in environmental sciences.
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