WEBVTT - TechStuff Fuels Up 0:00:04.280 --> 0:00:07.240 Get in touch with technology with tech Stuff from how 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:14.240 stuff works dot com. Hey there, everyone, and welcome to 0:00:14.400 --> 0:00:18.040 tech Stuff. I'm Jonathan Strickland and i'm and Today we 0:00:18.120 --> 0:00:20.880 are going to tackle part one of a two part 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:26.000 series about alternative fuels. Yes, we can technically do like 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:28.240 a seven part series on this, but we decided to 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:30.600 kind of condense it the way that you would perhaps 0:00:30.680 --> 0:00:35.360 a natural guests or yeah, hey, looks the only one 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:41.040 who can. Really basically, we are compressing these subjects into 0:00:41.080 --> 0:00:43.559 two parts. The first part is going to be kind 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:47.040 of an overview of the different alternatives that we think 0:00:47.080 --> 0:00:49.760 of with alternative fuel, keeping in mind that, you know, 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:52.400 the ones that we're talking about today are the major players, 0:00:52.560 --> 0:00:55.560 and that there could be an alternative fuel right around 0:00:55.560 --> 0:00:57.920 the corner that is completely different from the ones we're 0:00:58.200 --> 0:01:02.120 chatting about. Now, uh, you know, that's a possibility, but 0:01:02.160 --> 0:01:04.720 these are the These are the ones that are currently 0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:08.320 in some form of production and use in various places 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:10.839 around the world. It also will behoove us to mention 0:01:10.920 --> 0:01:14.319 the fact that Lauren and I come from the United 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:16.680 States of America. That is where we live, that is 0:01:16.680 --> 0:01:18.880 our frame of reference UM and a lot of the 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:23.640 information available to us immediately centered around that kind of experience, 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:26.480 so we know more about the laws, the prices, and 0:01:26.520 --> 0:01:31.240 the general availability exactly right, right, what's the infrastructure status 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:33.520 in the US. Now, keep in mind that some of 0:01:33.520 --> 0:01:36.160 these alternative fuels have a lot of support in other 0:01:36.319 --> 0:01:40.319 nations around the world. Uh, some nations have have invested 0:01:40.319 --> 0:01:43.400 a great deal in say propane for example, as a 0:01:43.400 --> 0:01:46.920 possible fuel source. And we're really talking about fuel for 0:01:46.959 --> 0:01:50.919 the most part as vehicle fuel and specifically vehicle fuel 0:01:51.200 --> 0:01:54.160 for you guys as in consumers. Yes, we will mention 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:56.400 a couple of places where some of these fuels have 0:01:56.560 --> 0:02:01.120 been used commercially or in a government fleet vehicles right, 0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:05.400 or in industrial vehicles that are used in factories or 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:08.320 or construction yards or whatever. But for the most part, 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:11.920 we're really looking at this is the alternative to the 0:02:12.040 --> 0:02:15.960 stuff what you put in your gas tank or diesel 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:21.360 tank as the case maybe, or hydrogen fuel cell or etcetera, etcetera. Yeah. So, um, 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:24.080 so you can look at these in lots of different ways. 0:02:24.160 --> 0:02:28.080 You can divide them up into all sorts of different categories. 0:02:28.240 --> 0:02:32.120 And so we kind of arbitrarily made these into our 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:36.800 own categories based upon my whim not not completely arbitrary. 0:02:37.160 --> 0:02:41.080 We're first going to cover I think of biodiesel and ethanol. Yeah, 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:43.200 and and the idea here is that these are two 0:02:43.280 --> 0:02:48.320 fuels that we get from uh organic sources, and then 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:51.760 we process it to make it into fuel. Also, these 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:55.640 two different fuels, they are different. Ethanol and biodesel are 0:02:55.760 --> 0:02:59.320 not the same thing. Uh. These two fuels also, besides 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:03.760 requiring some processing, have some other stuff in common. For instance, 0:03:04.080 --> 0:03:07.720 both of them you will frequently see in blended form, 0:03:07.880 --> 0:03:11.800 meaning that we actually blend these with petroleum based fuels. 0:03:11.840 --> 0:03:14.040 In the case of ethanol, we're talking gasoline, and with 0:03:14.080 --> 0:03:18.519 bio diesel we're talking yeah. But anyway, in both cases, 0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:24.280 we're talking about mixing uh this this biologically uh created 0:03:24.320 --> 0:03:28.040 fuel with stuff that is petroleum based. Keeping in mind, 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:30.400 of course, if we want to go all the way back, 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:34.800 even petroleum based stuff was organic at one point. But sure, sure, 0:03:34.880 --> 0:03:37.280 but but there's a difference between a between man made, 0:03:37.320 --> 0:03:41.760 processed organics and stuff that took millions and millions and 0:03:41.840 --> 0:03:44.880 millions of years to form the way it did. Yeah, 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:48.160 there's a tiny difference there. Uh So So let's let's 0:03:48.160 --> 0:03:50.840 start with um, Well, let's start with ethanol, I think, 0:03:50.840 --> 0:03:53.280 because that one is probably the one that that a 0:03:53.280 --> 0:03:55.360 lot of people who may not be aware of it 0:03:55.440 --> 0:03:58.560 are using already. Right, um, I think that in American 0:03:58.880 --> 0:04:02.960 most places in America use a blend of gasoline to 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:06.320 about ethanol. Yeah, it's called E ten. That's the the 0:04:06.480 --> 0:04:10.640 general term for that blend or gasohol. That's also what 0:04:10.720 --> 0:04:13.120 it's often referred to, although, which sounds so goofy and 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:17.280 it's it's it's I've seen it increasing, or rather I 0:04:17.320 --> 0:04:19.719 should say there's a decreasing trend to call it that. 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:22.839 I think it almost has a stigma against it because 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:26.719 people realize that uh ethanol, which by the way, is 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:29.640 ethyl alcohol, you know, it's it's just another name for 0:04:29.680 --> 0:04:33.640 ethyl alcohol. Um that ethyl alcohol could be pretty hard 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:37.359 on some engine parts, depending upon what you know, what 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:40.799 your engine had in it, like various tubes and connectors 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:43.520 and things like that. Al Right, it is a solvent 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:45.479 so um So one of the problems and using some 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:48.200 of the higher blends and in normal engines is that 0:04:48.320 --> 0:04:52.560 it can um a start start knocking some some extra 0:04:52.600 --> 0:04:56.240 stuff loose um and clogging fuel filters that way, and 0:04:56.520 --> 0:04:58.799 be can start eating away at some of the rubber 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:02.839 components fuel exactly exactly. And so what's what's kind of 0:05:02.839 --> 0:05:05.520 funny is that when it's eating away at that that 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:08.000 stuff that's built up in an engine. Let's say that 0:05:08.040 --> 0:05:11.640 you've been using regular gasoline in an engine for a while, 0:05:11.680 --> 0:05:15.280 but the engine can also accept ethanol of various blends, 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:18.920 like even a even a high concentration of of um 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:23.599 ethanol to actual gasoline. Well, the nice thing is that 0:05:23.680 --> 0:05:25.960 it's actually going to start cleaning your system. But the 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:28.040 problem is all that stuff that's built up has to 0:05:28.040 --> 0:05:29.960 go somewhere, and that's when you get into that problem 0:05:29.960 --> 0:05:32.400 of it clogging up filters and things like that. Right, 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:35.240 which is why should you Should you have a vehicle 0:05:35.279 --> 0:05:37.839 that can accept both, and you start using higher blends 0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:40.960 of ethanol um, it's recommended to replace your fuel pumps 0:05:41.000 --> 0:05:44.000 with something that is more capable of dealing with that, right, Right, 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:47.360 And then once you've got everything you know cleaned out 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:52.000 that first run through, just have a basic maintenance and 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:55.040 replacement schedule, just as you would your normal vehicle. The 0:05:55.080 --> 0:05:57.920 way most of us ignore UH and UH. I say 0:05:57.960 --> 0:06:00.440 that because I know a lot of car owners, and 0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:03.200 I think regular maintenance is something that just happens to 0:06:03.240 --> 0:06:07.600 other people. Uh, I've been I've been that guy once 0:06:07.720 --> 0:06:10.560 or twice. I I take the train, so what do 0:06:10.600 --> 0:06:14.120 I know. But anyway, so it's it's very common in 0:06:14.160 --> 0:06:17.400 the United States. Uh. In fact, I think something like 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:22.800 cent of gas stations have used some blend of ethanol. 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:25.760 And part of the reason for that is that ethanol 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:29.279 will increase the octane of your gasoline. Now, octane is 0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:32.080 this this rating that we think of that can actually 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:34.840 reduce what we call engine knocking. So if you've ever 0:06:34.880 --> 0:06:38.160 been in an old car running on you know, a 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:41.640 low uh octane gasoline and you start hearing this weird 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:44.080 knocking noise coming out of the engine, that's that's from 0:06:44.120 --> 0:06:48.120 this this octane issue. Adding an ethanol increases the octane. 0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:52.400 What it also does, however, is it it lowers the 0:06:52.440 --> 0:06:56.640 actual energy content of the gasoline, because ethanol does not 0:06:56.800 --> 0:07:00.560 have as much potential energy stored in it as gasoline, right, 0:07:00.560 --> 0:07:02.960 which in all practicality means that the gallon for gallon, 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:05.440 you're going to get less mileage out of ethanol than 0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:08.360 you will out of gasoline, right, And the less mileage 0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:11.280 all depends upon that blend, Right, Like So if it's 0:07:11.320 --> 0:07:13.280 an E ten blend where you've got the ten percent 0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:17.720 ethanol and gasoline, you might get three to four percent 0:07:17.840 --> 0:07:20.000 fewer miles per gallon than you would if you were 0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:23.880 using just regular gasoline, if you were using eight five, 0:07:24.280 --> 0:07:26.080 which is kind of the flip side of that, it's 0:07:26.120 --> 0:07:30.960 ethanol and percent gasoline. This is something that flexible fuel 0:07:31.080 --> 0:07:33.240 vehicles or f f vs as we call them in 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:36.840 the biz, can use. Then you're talking about a significant 0:07:36.920 --> 0:07:40.640 drop in miles per gallon. You're talking, right, that's a 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:44.080 that's big, right. I mean, these are why we have 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:48.360 these different considerations, and we'll do a full episode about why. Uh, 0:07:48.400 --> 0:07:51.520 there are a lot of challenges to switching to alternative fuel, 0:07:51.520 --> 0:07:53.080 So I'm not going to really get into it there, 0:07:53.120 --> 0:07:54.840 but you can kind of already see one of the 0:07:54.920 --> 0:07:58.040 issues here. Um, So it does have a lower energy 0:07:58.080 --> 0:08:02.440 content than gasoline. The cost of ethanol kind of varies 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:05.400 in the Midwest, where you've got a lot of places 0:08:05.400 --> 0:08:08.960 that are actually growing the feedstocks. That's what we call 0:08:09.040 --> 0:08:12.560 the stuff what we turn into ethanol, right, right, Starch 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:16.480 crops are what are used to ferment and distill um 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:19.880 stuff into ethanol, and especially in the US. That is 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:22.480 the stuff. Yes, and um so corn is here in 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:25.040 the US is used mostly in Brazil. I think it's sugarcane, 0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:28.120 but you can also use wheat, barley, potatoes. Right. The 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:31.080 starch based or sugar based stuff can be turned into this. 0:08:31.160 --> 0:08:36.000 You can also use cellulose based cellulosic ethanol, which would 0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:39.480 come from things like wood chips or switch grass. Uh. Now, 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:43.439 this stuff has potentially a better return on investment when 0:08:43.440 --> 0:08:45.559 it comes to energy. There's this thing called e r 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:49.800 o I that's energy return on investment. Whenever we're talking 0:08:49.800 --> 0:08:53.760 about producing any sort of fuel, producing the fuel requires 0:08:53.800 --> 0:08:57.520 you put energy into the production, and so it's really 0:08:57.559 --> 0:08:59.920 important that the energy you get out from that pot 0:09:00.080 --> 0:09:02.160 entol fuel, like whatever you're going to use that fuel for, 0:09:02.280 --> 0:09:04.800 the energy is greater than what you've put in, right 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:07.240 because otherwise why are you doing it? Yees? Otherwise it 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:09.480 would be an energy sink. Because let's say, let's say 0:09:09.520 --> 0:09:11.360 that you know, for the most part, the energy you're 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:13.600 going to be getting to produce the stuff is still 0:09:13.640 --> 0:09:16.640 coming from fossil fuels, because that's what we really depend 0:09:16.679 --> 0:09:19.720 upon right now. So if you would actually consume more 0:09:19.800 --> 0:09:22.840 fossil fuel producing this alternative fuel than you would if 0:09:22.840 --> 0:09:24.960 you had used the fossil fuel in the first place. 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:27.839 Then it's an energy sink and you're playing a losing game. 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:30.520 You want that energy to be greater the same the 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:33.360 same way that that fusion reactors are not popular yet 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:35.959 because they use more energy to start up than they 0:09:36.040 --> 0:09:38.920 put out exactly. Yeah, if you've got an energy sink, 0:09:38.920 --> 0:09:41.400 then really you've just got a thing what goes deep. 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:43.960 It's just what a lot in this. I apologize that 0:09:44.000 --> 0:09:45.760 I don't know what it was that got into my head. 0:09:45.800 --> 0:09:48.840 I shot a video today cackled insanely and then got 0:09:48.880 --> 0:09:53.200 called on it on Twitter. Lauren, Hey, I that was 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:55.920 not Lauren. That was your humble narrator. That was completely different. 0:09:56.000 --> 0:09:59.079 Fair enough, that's true. You can talk to her right so. 0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:02.400 But some other things about ethanol, uh, they do. Ethanol 0:10:02.679 --> 0:10:05.439 does tend to put out fewer greenhouse gas emissions than 0:10:05.480 --> 0:10:09.520 gasoline combustion does, which is important. You know. One of 0:10:09.559 --> 0:10:11.640 the questions we have to ask ourselves about moving to 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:14.319 an alternative fuel is why are you doing it right? 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:16.120 Because there are a lot of different potential answers you 0:10:16.120 --> 0:10:18.520 could give, and if one of those answers is I'm 0:10:18.520 --> 0:10:23.280 concerned about the environmental impact of gasoline consumption, then something 0:10:23.320 --> 0:10:26.200 like this where you're talking about fewer greenhouse gas emissions, 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:29.520 is important. Uh, you know, so that's that's something to 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:32.959 keep in mind. Ethanol, of course, is also produced domestically. 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:36.080 That's also important because in the United States, you know, 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:38.720 some of our oil a great deal roil. Around half 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:41.960 of it really is brought in from it. Yeah, important, 0:10:42.000 --> 0:10:44.040 and some of that's imported from places in the world 0:10:44.040 --> 0:10:46.560 where that it would be perhaps better for us to 0:10:46.679 --> 0:10:49.839 not be supporting economically and politically, right the money that 0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:52.880 we are are putting out could be funding things that 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:57.199 could be harmful to either that region's stability or to 0:10:57.520 --> 0:11:01.000 the United States. Is stability in general role and so 0:11:01.160 --> 0:11:05.200 anything you can produce domestically removes that that or at 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:10.520 least reduces that issue. So that's another reason why ethanol 0:11:10.640 --> 0:11:13.760 is considered to be a nice alternative, is because it's 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:17.440 something that we can produce domestically. However, Uh, there's also 0:11:17.520 --> 0:11:21.040 an issue about how much ethanol we produce versus um 0:11:21.160 --> 0:11:23.640 how much gasoline we produce. But again, I'll save that 0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:26.440 for the next show. I don't want to spoil everything 0:11:26.440 --> 0:11:30.000 in this one. But anyway, um, yeah, I mean that's 0:11:30.080 --> 0:11:33.840 that's generally the big picture on ethanol now for ethanol, 0:11:34.040 --> 0:11:36.240 for like things like that E a D five blend 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:39.839 where you have the ethanol. Again, that's something that's only 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:43.640 really useful in specific vehicles that have been tooled to 0:11:43.800 --> 0:11:47.400 accept that as a fuel, so called that flexible fuel vehicles, 0:11:47.480 --> 0:11:50.920 right exactly. So you don't want to fill up your 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:54.520 your right off the lot car that normally runs on 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:57.080 gasoline with E eighty five because that's not a good 0:11:57.080 --> 0:12:00.480 fuel for it. It could eat through those rubber hoses 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:04.160 like you were talking about, Lauren. So this is you know, 0:12:04.200 --> 0:12:06.240 it's it's one of those things where you're really looking 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:10.000 at offsetting gasoline consumption, not completely replacing it. All right, 0:12:10.040 --> 0:12:12.480 So let's talk about biodiesel, which is the other sort 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:17.000 of biological fuel source that we wanted to mention. Biodiesel, 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:19.920 of course, as the name suggests, is not a replacement 0:12:19.920 --> 0:12:23.120 for gasoline. It's more like a substitute for diesel, which 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:27.040 is again a petroleum based fuel, but it's different from gasoline. 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:32.960 So a gasoline engine will not burn diesel fuel efficiently. 0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:36.120 You have to have a diesel engine to do that now. 0:12:36.240 --> 0:12:41.240 I actually remember when diesel cars were more popular than 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:44.960 they are now, because that's how old I am. I 0:12:45.000 --> 0:12:46.840 was about to say, I don't remember that at all, Jonathan, 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:48.679 and I'm not even making fun of you right now. Yeah, no, 0:12:48.840 --> 0:12:51.320 I remember it because, uh I was alive in the 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:55.920 seventies and nine, I saw diesel engine cars. Uh, you know, 0:12:55.920 --> 0:13:01.719 because they're still very common in industrial use large vehicles 0:13:01.760 --> 0:13:06.520 like buses or trucks. But and there are still cars 0:13:06.559 --> 0:13:11.439 that are diesel engine cars. They're just not as common. Yeah, 0:13:11.480 --> 0:13:12.920 a lot of And I did want to mention a 0:13:12.920 --> 0:13:15.840 lot of the changes that have been made to how 0:13:15.880 --> 0:13:19.199 we consume fossil fuels started out in the nineteen seventies 0:13:19.240 --> 0:13:22.360 with them a the here in America, the the Clean 0:13:22.400 --> 0:13:25.680 Air Act being passed by the Environmental Protection Agency, and 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:28.679 also the Arab oil Embargo from seventy three to seventy four, 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:32.000 and then the Iranian Revolution from seventy seventy nine. Yeah, 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:35.080 we had some major fuel crises in the United States 0:13:35.080 --> 0:13:38.679 and the seventies which really started the ball rolling. Things 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:40.760 that have kept the ball rolling are everything from the 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:43.720 domestic safety issue that I referred to earlier and the 0:13:43.800 --> 0:13:46.920 environmental issue as well as just people concerned with trying 0:13:46.920 --> 0:13:49.480 to find a way that would uh some sort of 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:52.760 fuel that could be less expensive, less volatile in price 0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:57.559 than gasoline, right because between say seventy eight and one UM, 0:13:57.840 --> 0:14:01.880 the cost of oil per barrel skyrocketed from fourteen dollars 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:04.480 to over thirty five. Well, I remember when I first 0:14:04.520 --> 0:14:07.560 moved to Atlanta, gasoline was eighty five cents a gallon. 0:14:08.320 --> 0:14:11.480 I I love watching things like a like die Hard 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:14.360 where suddenly it pans past a gas station and you 0:14:14.400 --> 0:14:17.120 know that it's that it was before our time, because 0:14:17.120 --> 0:14:19.560 it's like seventy nine cents a gallon. Yeah, now it's 0:14:19.600 --> 0:14:22.280 over you know, three dollars a gallon easily in most 0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:24.360 of the United States. And now that we should complain 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:26.880 about that because in Europe it's much much much higher, 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:29.400 right right, But again, but anyway, sign of the times. 0:14:29.440 --> 0:14:33.080 So so biodiesel is interesting and that this is diesel 0:14:33.160 --> 0:14:37.000 fuel that's manufactured from vegetable oils, animal fats, and even 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:41.120 recycled restaurant grease. I remember reading a news report a 0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:44.440 few years ago, uh, an article in Creative Loafing, which 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:49.000 is a local weekly paper here in Atlanta, and it 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:51.560 was a feature on a guy out in Athens who 0:14:51.640 --> 0:14:55.040 had had tinkered with his car so that it could 0:14:55.080 --> 0:15:00.080 accept a form of restaurant grease with minimum amount of processing. 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:02.880 So he was actually using biodiesel and kind of the 0:15:03.400 --> 0:15:06.520 issues he was running into on the official end because 0:15:06.520 --> 0:15:09.680 this was all kind of um from a tinkerer's perspective 0:15:09.680 --> 0:15:11.960 as opposed to this is something that was fully supported 0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:16.000 by an infrastructure. But the idea here is that you're 0:15:16.080 --> 0:15:19.320 using this stuff, this renewable resource, because there's you know, 0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:24.520 we can keep growing more vegetables or animals or McDonald's, 0:15:24.640 --> 0:15:27.440 and then we get the stuff from it, this grease 0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:30.800 or or fat or oil and process it and in 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:34.040 that processing we then end up with this biodiesel. It's 0:15:34.040 --> 0:15:39.640 a biodegradable fuel. Uh, it's non toxic, so less toxic 0:15:39.680 --> 0:15:42.200 than say table salt, which is great, you know, right, 0:15:42.280 --> 0:15:46.520 you know, you have a massive biodegrade or biodesel fuel spill. 0:15:46.960 --> 0:15:49.480 It is biodegradable, it's non toxic, and it makes the 0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:53.160 highway small like French fries. So really, I mean who 0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:55.680 loses which which isn't to say that that a giant 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:58.200 oil spill of this stuff would be happy for the environment. 0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:00.880 It's not going to like moisturize all of the seal's 0:16:00.920 --> 0:16:02.840 faces or anything like that, but it's just you know, 0:16:02.840 --> 0:16:04.720 but but it's a little bit less scary and easier 0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:08.280 to clean up. Yeah, it's considered to have a lower 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:10.960 environmental impact from that perspective, and you still have to 0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:13.120 have processes stuff, so you still have to put energy 0:16:13.160 --> 0:16:15.120 into the system, just like you do with ethanol. So 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:18.280 don't don't think that this takes fossil fuels out entirely, 0:16:18.280 --> 0:16:21.760 and in fact, just like ethanol, biodiesel is something that 0:16:21.840 --> 0:16:28.000 is frequently blended with petroleum based diesel, so they're different blends. Um, 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:31.520 there's uh, there's B two which is only two percent 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:36.800 biodiesel and percent petroleum based diesel, B five which is 0:16:36.960 --> 0:16:40.160 five percent biodiesel, and B twenty, which is biodiesel. You 0:16:40.240 --> 0:16:43.080 can get B one hundred, although I don't think there 0:16:43.080 --> 0:16:46.160 are any consumer vehicles that are that run on B 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:49.200 one hundred, but B one hundred would be one percent 0:16:49.360 --> 0:16:54.760 pure biodiesel. Most vehicles in the United States don't go 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:59.760 over B five as the the recommended blend for running 0:16:59.760 --> 0:17:02.280 into the engine. The engines that you know, the manufacturers 0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:05.600 say this engine was not designed to run anything with 0:17:05.680 --> 0:17:09.439 a greater than B five blend for biodiesel to diesel. 0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:12.240 But but even even those very small concentrations can make 0:17:12.240 --> 0:17:16.080 a very large difference in the way that the fuel burns. Right. 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:20.680 In fact, again just like with ethanol, the biodiesel has 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:26.040 a lower fuel economy than than pure diesel does. So 0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:28.600 for example, if you go with B one hundred, it's 0:17:28.640 --> 0:17:32.520 something like a ten percent lower fuel economy, right, which 0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:34.640 which means that it would take about one point one 0:17:34.680 --> 0:17:37.880 gallons of biodiesel to equal one gallon of standard right, 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:41.119 whereas B twenty is more like just a two percent 0:17:41.560 --> 0:17:45.160 deficit in fuel economy. So obviously, when you're getting close 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:48.600 to B five or B two, the change is negligible 0:17:48.640 --> 0:17:51.159 to the point where you probably wouldn't notice it that 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:54.400 much unless you're really min maxing era. You're driving experience, 0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:56.960 and hardly anyone, I mean, there are people who do that. 0:17:57.600 --> 0:18:01.480 There's some people who go to some pretty extreme links 0:18:01.520 --> 0:18:04.960 to try and maximize fuel economy. My programmer friends sometimes 0:18:04.960 --> 0:18:08.560 get bored in their hybrid vehicles and do that. Also 0:18:08.600 --> 0:18:10.520 they're really tracking it. I think of the people who 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:14.440 are drafting behind massive trucks. That's not a safe thing 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:20.200 to do, by the way, But it does actually fuel economy, 0:18:20.600 --> 0:18:25.960 but it decreases your life expectancy, so uh. It does 0:18:26.680 --> 0:18:31.160 in general have fewer greenhouse gas and UH and pollutant 0:18:31.160 --> 0:18:34.119 emissions than diesel, although there is the possibility of an 0:18:34.200 --> 0:18:38.440 increase in nitrous oxide emissions. So it's not like this 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:43.200 is across the board cleaner than petroleum based diesel. But 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:47.800 for most of the types of emissions that we would 0:18:47.840 --> 0:18:51.600 consider harmful, it's better than the petroleum based one. It's 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:55.280 just not hands down or runaway wins. So you can't 0:18:55.320 --> 0:18:57.919 just point it bio diesel and say this is this, 0:18:57.920 --> 0:19:00.679 this is the cure for our environmental problem, right right. 0:19:00.680 --> 0:19:04.560 It does. It does reduce carbon dioxide emissions, but that's 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:06.520 a big one. I mean CEO two emissions, that's a 0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:09.119 big problem. And also they point out that really the 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:13.520 CEO two emissions, the way that it quote unquote reduces them, 0:19:13.560 --> 0:19:18.200 in part is because you are you are creating feedstocks 0:19:18.280 --> 0:19:20.639 again in order to create the biodiesel, and by creating 0:19:20.680 --> 0:19:23.679 the feed stocks, you're creating carbon dioxide sinks, right right, 0:19:23.680 --> 0:19:26.399 you're offsetting some of that some of what's going to 0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:28.320 be burned later, right, Yeah, the stuff that's going to 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:30.640 be released in the atmosphere is actually getting pulled in 0:19:30.760 --> 0:19:34.000 by the stuff that is turning into growing. So in 0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:37.359 this case, it's it's almost deceptive in a way to 0:19:37.480 --> 0:19:40.119 say lower carbon dioxide emissions, because part of that is 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:43.160 due to the fact that they're saying, well, yeah, it's 0:19:43.160 --> 0:19:48.440 lower because this stuff is taking carbon dioxide in. Yeah, 0:19:48.520 --> 0:19:50.159 but I mean you have to That's That's one of 0:19:50.160 --> 0:19:52.320 the other things that we'll be talking about in this 0:19:52.400 --> 0:19:55.920 podcast is you really have to look at the big picture. 0:19:56.080 --> 0:19:59.960 There's so many factors involved of you know, how how 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:03.480 you create something, how you process it, and what ship it, 0:20:03.640 --> 0:20:05.679 how you ship it, oh yeah, yeah, and and what 0:20:05.720 --> 0:20:07.320 it does natural gas. It's going to be big on 0:20:07.359 --> 0:20:08.960 that one. And and and what it does to the 0:20:09.000 --> 0:20:13.800 environment overall. Um. Another benefit of biodiesel is that it acts. 0:20:13.840 --> 0:20:16.080 It's another thing that acts as a solvent in your engine, 0:20:16.080 --> 0:20:20.400 which which can again create some problems initially initially if 0:20:20.440 --> 0:20:22.840 you if you aren't um, watching out for your fuel 0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:26.760 pump and rubber rubber bits, right, and then once uh, 0:20:26.800 --> 0:20:29.160 once you do get all that cleaned out, all that gunk, 0:20:29.240 --> 0:20:31.760 that's in there, then it's it should run much more 0:20:32.080 --> 0:20:36.240 cleanly than a typical diesel engine would. And um, I 0:20:36.240 --> 0:20:37.919 mean a lot of people point out that this is 0:20:37.960 --> 0:20:40.320 one of those things that if we can figure out 0:20:40.320 --> 0:20:42.600 a way to make it work, it's a huge benefit 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:46.160 because first of all, you're taking stuff that nobody wants 0:20:46.359 --> 0:20:49.720 used restaurant grease, you know, stuff that would you know, 0:20:49.800 --> 0:20:51.639 we we already have to figure out a way of 0:20:51.720 --> 0:20:54.320 disposing of that so it doesn't clog up drains or 0:20:54.359 --> 0:20:57.400 cause problems. If we can then take what would normally 0:20:57.440 --> 0:20:59.960 be a waste product and turn it into a few 0:21:00.000 --> 0:21:03.760 fuel product, then that's a win win in that scenario. 0:21:04.760 --> 0:21:06.760 Once you start looking outside that, that's when you're like, 0:21:06.800 --> 0:21:08.080 all right, but you have to take these other things 0:21:08.080 --> 0:21:10.919 into consideration. Well, yeah, you know, both both biodiesel and 0:21:10.960 --> 0:21:14.159 ethanol can be created from what we would normally be 0:21:14.200 --> 0:21:17.359 considered as waste crops um, you know, extra bits that 0:21:17.400 --> 0:21:19.639 we wouldn't really be using that would either you know, 0:21:19.800 --> 0:21:23.760 go into multure, a landfill or something. Although the ethanol argument, 0:21:23.800 --> 0:21:26.520 people get really up in arms about that because if 0:21:26.520 --> 0:21:29.040 you're talking about growing corn just for fuel, and then 0:21:29.080 --> 0:21:33.199 you take into account other things like starvation issues or 0:21:33.520 --> 0:21:36.359 you know, good or effective land use. Then that brings 0:21:36.440 --> 0:21:39.320 up another debate. But again I think that actually fits 0:21:39.320 --> 0:21:41.760 in our second episode, probably a little more. So we'll 0:21:42.000 --> 0:21:44.520 we'll say that, we'll we'll get on the soapbox for 0:21:44.560 --> 0:21:46.720 the second one. Will spare you that for right now. 0:21:47.160 --> 0:21:50.680 So that that's the biological stuff. Um, let's see, do 0:21:50.720 --> 0:21:54.399 you want to go right into the more fossil fuel 0:21:54.440 --> 0:21:57.240 oriented ones or do you want to do hydrogen next? 0:21:58.080 --> 0:22:00.879 Let's let's do I've got natural gas next on my paper. 0:22:01.400 --> 0:22:04.960 Let's do that. Then it so natural gas. We're primarily 0:22:04.960 --> 0:22:08.320 talking about methane here. Methane is one of those greenhouse 0:22:08.320 --> 0:22:10.520