Vegetable oil economy deals with the potential of vegetable
oil to replace fossil fuels in the economy and how it compares to other
potential replacements. Vegetable oils are the basis of biodiesel, which can be
used like conventional diesel. Some vegetable oil blends are used in unmodified
vehicles, but straight vegetable oil needs specially prepared vehicles which
have a method of heating the oil to reduce its viscosity and surface tension.
Another alternative is vegetable oil refining.
The availability of biodiesel around the world is
increasing, although still tiny compared to conventional fossil fuel sources.
There is significant research in algaculture methods to make biofuel from
algae.
Concerns have been expressed about growing crops for fuel
use rather than food and the environmental impacts of large-scale agriculture
and land clearing required to expand the production of vegetable oil for fuel
use. These effects/impacts would need to be specifically researched and
evaluated, economically and ecologically, and weighed in balance with the
proposed benefits of vegetable oil fuel in relation to the use of other fuel
sources.
Future of energy for world economy
There is a limited amount of fossil fuel inside the Earth.
Since the current world energy resources and consumption is mainly fossil
fuels, we are very dependent on them for both transportation and electric power
generation. The Hubbert peak theory predicts that oil depletion will result in
oil production dropping off in the not too distant future. As time goes on our
economy will have to transition to some alternative fuels. Fossil fuels have
solved two problems which could be separately solved in the future: the problem
of a source of primary energy and of energy storage. Along with straight
vegetable oil and biodiesel, some energy technologies that could play an
important part in the future include:
hydrogen economy
methanol fuel
ethanol fuel
lithium economy
zinc-air battery
liquid nitrogen
economy
synthetic fuel
solar energy /
photovoltaics
nuclear power
(fission power)
fusion power
wind power
compressed air
energy storage
flywheel energy
storage
biofuel
Net CO2 or greenhouse gas production
Plants use sunlight and photosynthesis to take carbon
dioxide (CO2) out of the Earth's atmosphere to make vegetable oil. The same CO2
is then put back after it is burned in an engine. Thus vegetable oil does not
increase the CO2 in the atmosphere, and does not directly contribute to the
problem of greenhouse gas. It is really a way of catching and storing solar
energy; it is a renewable energy.
However, as with other "renewable" energy sources,
there may be a (relatively small) carbon footprint associated with production
or distribution of vegetable oil.
Safety
Plantains frying in vegetable oil
Vegetable oil is far less toxic than other fuels such as
gasoline, petroleum-based diesel, ethanol, or methanol, and has a much higher
flash point (approximately 275-290 °C). The higher flash point reduces the risk
of accidental ignition. Some types of vegetable oil are edible.
Generation and storage
Technologies of hydrogen economy, batteries, compressed air
energy storage, and flywheel energy storage address the energy storage problem
but not the source of primary energy. Other technologies like fission power,
fusion power, and solar power address the problem of a source of primary energy
but not energy storage. Vegetable oil addresses both the source of primary
energy and of energy storage. The cost and weight to store a given amount of
energy as vegetable oil is low compared to many of the potential replacements
for fossil fuels.
Type of vegetable oil
The list of vegetable oils article discusses which types of
vegetable oil are used for fuel and where different types are grown.
Transportation
Vegetable oil is used for transportation in four different
ways:
Vegetable oil
blends - Mixing vegetable oil with diesel lets users get some of the advantages
of burning vegetable oil and is often done with no modification to the vehicle.
Biodiesel - If
vegetable oil is transesterified it becomes biodiesel. Biodiesel burns like
normal diesel and works fine in any diesel engine. The name just indicates that
the fuel came from vegetable oil.
Straight vegetable
oil - Straight vegetable oil works in diesel engines if it is heated first.
Some diesel engines already heat their fuel, others need a small electric
heater on the fuel line. How well it works depends on the heating system, the
engine, the type of vegetable oil (thinner is easier), and the climate (warmer
is easier). Some data is available on results users are seeing. As vegetable
oil has become more popular as a fuel, engines are being designed to handle it
better. The Elsbett engine is designed to run on straight vegetable oil.
However, as of the start of 2007, it seems that there are not any production
vehicles warrantied for burning straight vegetable oil, although Deutz offer a
tractor and John Deere are known to be in late stages of engine development.
There is a German rapeseed oil fuel standard DIN 51605. At this point straight
vegetable oil is only a niche market although the market segment in Germany is
rapidly growing with large haulage vehicle fleets adopting the fuel, largely
for economic reasons. A growing number of decentralised oil mills provide a
large part of this fuel.
Vegetable oil
refining - Vegetable oil can be used as feedstock for an oil refinery. There it
can be transformed into fuel by hydrocracking (which breaks big molecules into
smaller ones using hydrogen) or hydrogenation (which adds hydrogen to
molecules). These methods can produce gasoline, diesel, or propane. Some
commercial examples of vegetable oil refining are NExBTL, H-Bio, and the
ConocoPhilips Process.
The transition can start with biodiesel, vegetable oil
refining, and vegetable oil blends, since these technologies do not require the
capital outlay of converting an engine to run on vegetable oils. Because it
costs to convert vegetable oil into biodiesel it is expected that vegetable oil
will always be cheaper than biodiesel. After there are production cars that can
use straight vegetable oil and a standard type available at gas stations,
consumers will probably choose straight vegetable oil to save money. So the
transition to vegetable oil can happen gradually.
Electricity generation
Other methods, like nuclear power, fusion power, wind power
and solar power, may provide cheaper electricity, so vegetable oil may only be
used in peaking power plants and small power plants, as diesel is limited to
today. There is at least one 5 MW power plant that runs on biodiesel. Suitable for power generation that can be
fueled with pure plant oils were produced.
Market, cost, price, and taxes
In some countries, filling stations sell bio-diesel more
cheaply than conventional diesel.
In Europe, straight vegetable oil (SVO) costs 150
pence/litre at most supermarkets and
somewhat less when bought in bulk direct from the manufacturers whereas diesel
costs at least 130 pence per litre (in the UK to well over that (depends on the year, 1.4
euro is the current market price in central Europe). In the USA, diesel costs
about 0,6 $ per liter and the cheapest SVO costs about the same, with more
expensive oils costing more than that (up to 7$ per gallon).
The availability of biodiesel around the World is
increasing. It is estimated that by 2010 the market for biodiesel will be 7.5
billion litres (2 billion USgallons) in the U.S and 9.5 billion litres (2.5 billion
USgallons) in Europe. Biodiesel currently has 3% of the diesel market in
Germany and is the number 1 alternative fuel.The German government has a
Biofuels Roadmap in which they expect to reach 10% biofuels by 2010 with the
diesel 10% coming from fuel made from vegetable oil.
From 2005 to 2007 a number of types of vegetable oil have
doubled in price. The rise in vegetable oil prices is largely attributed to
biofuel demand.
Much of the fuel price at the pump is due to fuel tax. If
you buy vegetable oil at the grocery store it does not have such high taxes. So
at times people have bought vegetable oil at the store for their cars because
it was cheaper. They did this in spite of the fact that packaging by the gallon
adds to the cost and it was illegal to use in a car since no fuel tax had been
paid on it.
Since vegetable oil (even as biodiesel) does not contribute
to greenhouse gas, governments may tax it much less than gasoline as they have
done with ethanol. This would help them reach Kyoto protocol targets.
Production in sufficient quantity
African Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis
The World production of vegetable oil seed is forecast to be
418 million tonnes in 2008/09. After pressing this will make 131 million tonnes
of vegetable oil. Much of this is from Oil Palm, and palm oil production is
growing at 5% per year. At about 7.5 lb/USgal (900 g/L) this is about 38
billion USgallons (144 billion L). Currently vegetable oil is mostly used in
food and some industrial uses with a small percentage used as fuel. The major
fuel usage is by conversion to biodiesel with about 3 billion US gallons
(11,000,000 m3) in 2009.
In 2004 the US consumed 530 billion litres (140 billion
USgal) of gasoline and 150 billion litres (40 billion USgal) of diesel. In
biodiesel it says oil palm produces 5940 litres per hectare (635 USgal/acre) of
palm oil each year. To make 180 billion US gallons (680,000,000 m3) of
vegetable oil each year would require 1,150,000 square kilometres (440,000 sq
mi) or a square of land 1,070 kilometres (660 mi) on a side.
"The gradual move from oil has begun. Over the next 15
to 20 years we may see biofuels providing a full 25 percent of the world's
energy needs. While the move is good for reducing greenhouse emissions, soaring
oil prices have encouraged most countries to 'go green' by switching to greater
use of biofuels." - Alexander Müller, Assistant Director-General of
Sustainable Development at the FAO.
Algaculture could potentially produce far more oil per unit
area. Results from pilot algaculture projects using sterile CO2 from power
plant smokestacks look promising.
Genetic modifications to soybeans are already being used.
Genetic modifications and breeding can increase vegetable oil yields. From 1979
to 2005 the soybean yield in bushels per acre more than doubled. A company has
developed a variety of camelina sativa that yields 20% more oil than the
standard variety.
Environmental effects
There is concern that the current growing demand for
vegetable oil is causing deforestation, with old forests being replaced with
oil palms. When land is cleared it is often burned, which releases lots of CO2.
Vegetable oil production would have to increase substantially to replace
gasoline and diesel. With current technology such an increase in production
would have a substantial environmental impact.
Food vs fuel debate
In some poor countries the rising price of vegetable oil is
causing problems. There are those that say using a food crop for fuel sets up
competition between food in poor countries and fuel in rich countries. Some
propose that fuel only be made from non-edible vegetable oils like jatropha
oil. Others argue that the problem is more fundamental. The law of supply and
demand predicts that if fewer farmers are producing food the price of food will
rise. It may take some time, as farmers can take some time to change which
things they are growing, but increasing demand for biofuels is likely to result
in price increases for many kinds of food. Some have pointed out that there are
poor farmers and poor countries making more money because of the higher price
of vegetable oil.
With the use of non-edible vegetable oils produced by trees
such as Millettia Pinnata (formerly Pongamia Pinnata) or the Moringa oleifera
tree, both which grow on borderline or non-arable land, the food versus fuel
debate becomes less of an either/or question.
Apart from their facility of growing in non-arable and/or
marginal land, these trees offer major advantages over peanut, soy-bean,
sunflower, etc., in that they have long lives (up to 100 years), very low
maintenance (since the intensive husbandry is limited to the first few years of
their producing lives) and can provide cash-crops to rural areas, such as rural
India. In the case of Millettia Pinnata and a few others, the fact that they
are nitrogen-fixing legumes is another very important factor, in that they do
not deplete the soil.
Among other benefits of these trees is that they have
root-systems that penetrate much deeper and do not compete with shallow-rooted
plants, like grass (once the trees have attained a certain maturity). This
means that the land can be used for multiple purposes, such as grazing for
animals. Yet another benefit of using Millettia Pinnata to produce bio-diesel
is that it can tolerate low rainfall (as little as 250 ml per year), far below
what most food-crops require, thus reducing yet more their potential to compete.
Algae for vegetable oil production
Some species of algae contain as much as 50% vegetable oil.
Algae have very high growth rates compared to plants normally used to produce
vegetable oil. Potentially algae could produce much more oil per area of land than
current farming methods. So producing vegetable oil this way should result in
less deforestation and less competition for food production land. One expert
wrote: "As demonstrated here, microalgal biodiesel is technically
feasible. It is the only renewable biodiesel that can potentially completely
displace liquid fuels derived from petroleum. Economics of producing microalgal
biodiesel need to improve substantially to make it competitive with
petrodiesel, but the level of improvement necessary appears to be attainable.
"
Where there is existing electricity generation using fossil
fuels, there is a source of sterile CO2. This makes algaculture much easier. To
grow algae you need lots of CO2, but if you get it from air you will also get
all kinds of other organisms, some of which eat algae. Getting CO2 from a
smokestack works out really well. Governments trying to address the external costs
of coal power plants may have a carbon tax or carbon credit that provides
additional motivation to use CO2 from smokestacks. Several commercial pilot
plants are under construction.
There is substantial research and development work in this
area but as of 2007 there is no commercial vegetable oil produced from algae
and used as biofuel. ExxonMobil is investing $600 million and estimates they
are 5 to 10 years from significant production, but could invest billions in
final development and commercialization. If and when the commercialization
challenges are overcome, vegetable oil production could expand very rapidly.
In 2012 President Obama supported the idea of getting oil
from algae.
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