All things have its good & bad side of the applications. Now use Rape Seeds for Autos!!
If plants with a high calorific value such as rapeseed are used for fuel to power vehicles we will only be returning into the atmosphere what we took out during the plant's life when the CO2 was captured to manufacture cellulose.
This has the potential to help keep Europe's countryside green and help farmers stay on the land. Some question still remains as to whether energy alternatives such as solar might be a better choice while the land is used to grow food instead of fuel.
My opinion is that we should use the Rape Seed oil for medications & also use the land to produce the food to feed people rather than the fuel for Auto.
The technology today is already allowing the wind, Fuel Cell & Solar or Water to generate the clean power for Auto's. It is far more important priority to plant enough food to feed the hungry people on earth.
Food for Fuel
Land suitable for growing food in many parts of Europe could see a switch to growing high-energy plants for conversion into fuel. Farmers are already receiving EU financial incentives to grow biofuel crops such as rapeseed.
A biofuel alternative to diesel fuel, bio-diesel is compatible with regular diesel. The two can be mixed at different strengths depending on engine design. For most engines a mix containing 20 per cent bio-diesel is preferable. So far this is only available from a single distribution point at the Edible Oil Refining Company in Marsa.
With less tailpipe emissions than diesel (except for nitrous oxide which is higher) the use of biodiesel as a substitute for conventional fuels brings some benefits not only for cleaner air but can also mean more efficient sewage treatment. With three new sewage treatment plants due to come on line in the Maltese Islands within the next few years it is imperative to avoid practices which might clog up the works.
The Water Services Corporation, which is responsible for drains, reports that one third of stoppages in the sewage system are caused by the discard of fats and oils. Commercial establishments in Malta and Gozo are obliged by a legal notice to install grease traps conditional to obtaining an operating permit. But for households there is no legal instrument to regulate how much oil and fat is poured down drains into the sewers.
Households with oil leftover from frying or deep-frying food may soon make use of a collection service to be provided by WasteServ starting from May. The long term aim of a pilot project involving over 16,000 households is to reduce damage to sewage treatment membranes by keeping oils and fats out of the sewerage system. If no steps are put in place to prevent damage then maintenance of the new treatment plants will be more complicated and expensive.
Switching from petroleum oil to plant oil (biofuel) could go some way to getting the Kyoto Protocol on climate change rolling. Feeding our cars on fuel that comes from living plants seems a friendly enough idea. Fossil fuel comes from plants long dead, locked deep in the ground. Burning oil from this source releases back into the atmosphere carbon dioxide which was captured eons ago.
If nothing is done to prevent or slow global warming by reduction of carbon dioxide the planet could see catastrophic changes within 20 years. Some crops growing in the Mediterranean region may not be able to adapt as the climate becomes more like that of a sub-tropical zone.
If plants with a high calorific value such as rapeseed are used for fuel to power vehicles we will only be returning into the atmosphere what we took out during the plant's life when the CO2 was captured to manufacture cellulose. This has the potential to help keep Europe's countryside green and help farmers stay on the land. Some question still remains as to whether energy alternatives such as solar might be a better choice while the land is used to grow food instead of fuel.
The biotechnology industry is reasearching how to modify genes in fuel crops to produce a plant which will render more calorific value. A pre-accession report on the impact of GMOs and their regulation in Malta found that GMOs approved by the EU such as rapeseed could have a detrimental effect on the local environment. The report emphasised that any applications to carry out deliberate release of such products should be subject to the most stringent boundary and safety regulations.
No studies have yet been carried out to establish whether genetically modified rapeseed would hybridise with related species in the Maltese environment. There is a lack of mathematical models for predicting whether a particular species will become invasive in the Maltese ecology.
Fortunately it is highly unlikely that any rapeseed will be planted here to meet fuel needs. It was acknowledged at a conference on Biofuels last week that we do not have enough open land to support the growing of fuel crops to provide our energy needs. An area ten times the land mass of the Maltese Islands would have to be converted to growing biofuel to meet the energy demand.
However the gaze of local researchers is trained on marine sources of biofuel. Professor Alex Felice spoke on the possibility of harvesting useful supplies in sufficient quantity of single celled marine algae as a source of biomass for energy. Professor Felice is active in genetics and genome research at the university's Department of Physiology and Biology.
The Times & The Sunday Times, Malta
If plants with a high calorific value such as rapeseed are used for fuel to power vehicles we will only be returning into the atmosphere what we took out during the plant's life when the CO2 was captured to manufacture cellulose.
This has the potential to help keep Europe's countryside green and help farmers stay on the land. Some question still remains as to whether energy alternatives such as solar might be a better choice while the land is used to grow food instead of fuel.
My opinion is that we should use the Rape Seed oil for medications & also use the land to produce the food to feed people rather than the fuel for Auto.
The technology today is already allowing the wind, Fuel Cell & Solar or Water to generate the clean power for Auto's. It is far more important priority to plant enough food to feed the hungry people on earth.
Food for Fuel
Land suitable for growing food in many parts of Europe could see a switch to growing high-energy plants for conversion into fuel. Farmers are already receiving EU financial incentives to grow biofuel crops such as rapeseed.
A biofuel alternative to diesel fuel, bio-diesel is compatible with regular diesel. The two can be mixed at different strengths depending on engine design. For most engines a mix containing 20 per cent bio-diesel is preferable. So far this is only available from a single distribution point at the Edible Oil Refining Company in Marsa.
With less tailpipe emissions than diesel (except for nitrous oxide which is higher) the use of biodiesel as a substitute for conventional fuels brings some benefits not only for cleaner air but can also mean more efficient sewage treatment. With three new sewage treatment plants due to come on line in the Maltese Islands within the next few years it is imperative to avoid practices which might clog up the works.
The Water Services Corporation, which is responsible for drains, reports that one third of stoppages in the sewage system are caused by the discard of fats and oils. Commercial establishments in Malta and Gozo are obliged by a legal notice to install grease traps conditional to obtaining an operating permit. But for households there is no legal instrument to regulate how much oil and fat is poured down drains into the sewers.
Households with oil leftover from frying or deep-frying food may soon make use of a collection service to be provided by WasteServ starting from May. The long term aim of a pilot project involving over 16,000 households is to reduce damage to sewage treatment membranes by keeping oils and fats out of the sewerage system. If no steps are put in place to prevent damage then maintenance of the new treatment plants will be more complicated and expensive.
Switching from petroleum oil to plant oil (biofuel) could go some way to getting the Kyoto Protocol on climate change rolling. Feeding our cars on fuel that comes from living plants seems a friendly enough idea. Fossil fuel comes from plants long dead, locked deep in the ground. Burning oil from this source releases back into the atmosphere carbon dioxide which was captured eons ago.
If nothing is done to prevent or slow global warming by reduction of carbon dioxide the planet could see catastrophic changes within 20 years. Some crops growing in the Mediterranean region may not be able to adapt as the climate becomes more like that of a sub-tropical zone.
If plants with a high calorific value such as rapeseed are used for fuel to power vehicles we will only be returning into the atmosphere what we took out during the plant's life when the CO2 was captured to manufacture cellulose. This has the potential to help keep Europe's countryside green and help farmers stay on the land. Some question still remains as to whether energy alternatives such as solar might be a better choice while the land is used to grow food instead of fuel.
The biotechnology industry is reasearching how to modify genes in fuel crops to produce a plant which will render more calorific value. A pre-accession report on the impact of GMOs and their regulation in Malta found that GMOs approved by the EU such as rapeseed could have a detrimental effect on the local environment. The report emphasised that any applications to carry out deliberate release of such products should be subject to the most stringent boundary and safety regulations.
No studies have yet been carried out to establish whether genetically modified rapeseed would hybridise with related species in the Maltese environment. There is a lack of mathematical models for predicting whether a particular species will become invasive in the Maltese ecology.
Fortunately it is highly unlikely that any rapeseed will be planted here to meet fuel needs. It was acknowledged at a conference on Biofuels last week that we do not have enough open land to support the growing of fuel crops to provide our energy needs. An area ten times the land mass of the Maltese Islands would have to be converted to growing biofuel to meet the energy demand.
However the gaze of local researchers is trained on marine sources of biofuel. Professor Alex Felice spoke on the possibility of harvesting useful supplies in sufficient quantity of single celled marine algae as a source of biomass for energy. Professor Felice is active in genetics and genome research at the university's Department of Physiology and Biology.
The Times & The Sunday Times, Malta
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