Everyday Blog

The events at Copenhagen were definitely a setback for the future, but a lot of attention is going to be given nevertheless to our needs to become sustainable. There had been much hope for lasting accord in Denmark, as nations met to discuss a successor to the original Kyoto Protocol. Once again though, politics and domestic interests came to the fore, even though individual countries did promise to take concerted action.

As we go forward, more and more evidence accumulates pointing to how greenhouse gas emissions are causing damage to our environment. We can now see how over 300 years we have disregarded the consequences of excess energy production and how we relied on old fossil fuels. There is no doubt that a lot of harm will ensue unless we change our ways soon.

In Europe, the United Kingdom has taken a lead in introducing a trading scheme to force the largest emitters of greenhouse gases to buy allowances from the government, thus enabling them to emit extra carbon. In these cases, if the companies do not act efficiently, they will incur penalties. Should they not, they will incur penalties. This scheme is just an indication of what is likely to come as governments start to force consumers to address their carbon footprints.

Pollution can often be traced back to our over-reliance on transportation and our thirst for petro diesel and petroleum to fuel our vehicles. As such, biodiesel fuel is an excellent option and in many cases is much more palatable and can even reduce carbon dioxide related emissions as compared to those conventional gases.

In the United States, the EPA has ruled greenhouse gases to be hazardous, under the auspices of the Clean Air Act. We can now expect legislation and existing powers to be wielded, forcing emissions to be curtailed from these vehicles.

If biodiesel can be shown to be a workable alternative and a solution that has benefits above and beyond carbon emissions, then we could see a concerted increase in the number of facilities making biodiesel, more distribution stations and more people converting to the use of biodiesel for their diesel engine vehicles. Within Petro diesel engines, biodiesel may be used without any further modifications and can be used in a variety of different strengths.

Biodiesel is not a new invention, far from it, but has been in the shadows due to what used to be relatively inexpensive costs associated with petroleum or petro diesel and a lack of education and awareness surrounding related carbon emissions. Things have definitely changed though and our society is looking for many alternative options and as such biofuel advocates must bring the discussion levels to the fore. People now need to move from the process of making homemade biodiesel to demanding that commercially made options are widely available all around them.

We now know that if we all make a concerted effort individually toward real change, whether in small things or on a large scale, anything is possible when it comes to global environmental sustainability, for us, and for our future generations.