You make a great point! If there is limited crop land, should it be used to make food or fuel?

I don't think there is a limit in cropland, just that America doesn't value it's farmers any more and they'd prefer a strip mall or gated community to a farm.

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-justin

1987 300TD, 1987 300TD
2008 R32, 2000 Passat Wagon

Since I've seen more land in other areas being used for crops, I don't think it is currently that limited. Usually the limiting factor is cost to bring the crop to market such as irrigation, planting, harvesting & transportation to a processing plant. All of those factors also figure into the biodiesel costs. I've noticed that much of the biodiesel production is "next door" to oil refinery operations, here in Texas.

Since nearly 80% of our imported oil comes from Mexico, not the Middle East as some politicians desiring power would have you to believe, the transportation factor has limited impact on the cost of oil. The largest impact on the cost of diesel comes from refining, as a recent hurricane incident pointed out.

In fact, probably the main factor that affects the cost in both would be the refining process to produce a useable fuel. Even biodiesel is struggling with that as the factor of having to supplement with additives, for EPA reasons, is expecting their costs to rise. I've noticed that all of the "changes" such as ULSD have hac a major factor on diesel costs as well.

Of course the one factor that faces all aspects of the cost of fuel is taxes. Which is a bigger factor than most folks realize. And those taxes are not used for the common good on a more frequent basis.

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Sam

84 300SD 350K+ miles ( Blue Belle )

I would suggest that you read the facts here in the link as to where the imported oil for the USA comes from...Mexico is 3rd on the list, and no one country comes even near to the 80% mentioned in the above post..Maybe 80% for Texas...

http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imports/current/import.html

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1987 300 DT

I thought most of our oil came from Canada.

Edit: Actually clicked the link, yes it's true.

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-justin

1987 300TD, 1987 300TD
2008 R32, 2000 Passat Wagon

What the ()*%$@*( are they trying to say here?

"Canada remained the largest exporter of total petroleum products in December, exporting 2.409 million barrels per day to the United States, which was a slight decrease from last month (2.598 thousand barrels per day). The second largest exporter of total petroleum products was Saudi Arabia with 1.491 million barrels per day."
they switch from thousand to million and back and back in here. is it 2.5.. million or thousand and is it per day or per month?
John

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

I think the "2.598 thousand" is referring to the "slight decrease", not the total number.

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-justin

1987 300TD, 1987 300TD
2008 R32, 2000 Passat Wagon

More importantly, what are you rotating those crops with? Ethanol is a poor solution, just an alternative.

I think algael bio diesel is going to be as close to a Mr Fusion as we will ever see. Maybe instead of composting in the yard you'll be composting in the trunk!

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

Anytime your not burning a petrol product your saving it. Simplistic but true

The answer lies in my sig. Amory Lovins has it all figured out. If you don't want to see the lecture google; the oil end game.

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1999 E300DT (131,800) 154,000 Black on Black SOLD

2006 CLK 500 coupe Capri Blue on Grey (zoom,zoom)
47,000mi

04 VW TDI Passat 80,000mi
(Techno)

How to eliminate oil dependency through market-driven approaches.
“We could cut oil use in half by 2025, and by 2040, oil use could be zero,”
The Sound of Diesel Speed
Ode to MB

I read an article just yesterday that said an acre of soybeans can produce 60gallons of biodiesel if that's of any help to you.

jeff

Ethanol can be made from almost anything! Household garbage is providing better answers now than corn, but corn, stalks and all will make a lot of Ethanol. We had Ethanol available back in February 1st. 1917! It does not take a lot to modify a car to run on Ethanol. Changing your carburetors metering jet size to a larger one is all it takes. Today's fuel injected systems just add a longer delivery time to the injection rate! Ethanol burns much cleaner than gasoline and adds longer engine life. Adding 15% gasoline to Ethanol only makes Ethanol unfit for human consumption, not a better fuel. I prefer biodiesel myself as diesel engines are my favourite and I feel as if something is missing if I can't hear that clatter under the bonnet!

Interestingly enough, Canada doesn't produce nearly what it could for oil. There are a lot of wells in my area of alberta that produce quite well, but are capped off 'for a better time." I has been esimated that Alberta only produces half the oil it could. Interestingly enough, oil and other resources have made alberta, which is a socially conservative society, one of the richest provinces in the world. We have no provincial governmen debt. The so called 'have not' provinces are always lining up at our doorstep demanding money. They complain to the federal government about equality, and all oher kinds of bull****. But, I digress. I'm an Albertain, and tired of how I get treated in the rest of Canada.
Oil isn't as scarce as one might think it is.
Bio diesel does burn cleaner. And to answer the food question, the world prodices more food per year than it can consume. Then, why are people starving in the world?? The answer is quite simple. The world's transportation systems are poor, there are wars that make bringing food to some areas very dangerous. Dictators dan bully starving people into submission, etc. For example, Russia has vast areas of the richest land in the world, but only produces 7-8% of he food they need. The rest is imported. I'm not talking about exotic fruits and vegies. I'm talking about EVERYTHING.
Grain can have many uses. For example, a guy I knew of built a house heater out of grain. He ran a series of pipes in a zig zag formtion (for lack of a better description) through a pile of grain that he had put in a small building that he had built. He the poured water on the grain, cauing it to spoil. Then he ran antifreeze through the pipes and hd a small pump to move it. A heat exchanger inside the houst made he heat produced usable from the warmed antifreeze. Total cost for him to use that for a 3-4 month -40 winter?? $250.
Making biodiesel isn't going to change the world's food situation any. It might give farmers in a depressed economy reason to stay and keep working.
Well, that's all from me for now. Let me know if this is of any help.

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All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to stand by and do nothing.

Too many people tip toe through life, never attempting or doing anything great, hoping to make it safely to death... Bob Proctor

'95 S320 LWB
'87 300SDL
'04 E500 wagon 4matic

I'm 37, and in the 1980's they told us that all of our oil would be depleted in twenty years. It was BS then, it's BS now - same crapmachine that feeds us false data like Y2K will end life as we know it and global warming is caused by mankind. I'd be happier if I listened less to the freaking crapmachine media.

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- Brian


1989 500SEL Euro
1966 250SE Cabriolet
1958 BMW Isetta 600

I was wondering why my mood has been better since I got Millie. I guess it is because the Becker doesn't work

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2009 VW TDI Jetta Sportwagon 172k miles (rear-ended harder than Elton John on 8/4/13. Total loss)

1991 Volvo 240 142k miles (T-boned by a stop sign runner. Total loss)

I was glancing through The Economist today and noticed it said 1 acre of something (I forget what) produces 60 gallons of bio-diesel.

Edit: Just noticed jbach36 beat me to it.