I was doing some research on some information for my blog and found some information about how a biodiesel Excursion will emit less CO2 than the Prius will. From “Random Musings” by RyanG, The National Biodiesel Board and information from the EPA ratings of the cars, it is found that a Prius will emit ~3492 lbs of CO2, an excursion running regular diesel will emit ~13453 lbs of CO2, and an excursion running bio-diesel will only emit ~2960 lbs of CO2. Also, an excursion can haul 3 more people than the prius, which can make it more efficient, if a carpool is used. (if you would like to see more about the calculations and where these numbers came from go to http://qwikrex.blogspot.com/2007/10/i-see-your-prius-and-raise-you.html)
April 10, 2008 at 4:07 am
While biodiesel might serve as a viable alternative fuel for a few people, I do not think that it can become a primary fuel because of the lack of availability of enough waste fats and oils. If we were to start growing crops such as switchgrass to manufacture biodiesel, we could run into problems similar to those caused by using corn for ethanol production. Specifically, cattle ranchers are unable to buy corn for cattle feed due to the rising corn demand. One ray of hope for biodiesel is the possibility of producing it from biomass. As of yet, however, there has not been an economically viable way to do this on a large scale.