Butter could make better biodiesel, according to some researchers.
In a study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, scientists with USDA’s Ag Research Service found that butter could serve as another eco-friendly feedstock for biodiesel.
Michael Haas and colleagues cite rising global demand for biodiesel, and the desire to expand the feedstock base, as motivating factors for their research. The United States alone has committed to producing 36 billion gallons of biofuel by 2022, a major increase from the current annual production level of about 11 billion gallons. Most of that was ethanol. Biodiesel production, now approaching 1 billion gallons annually in the U.S., is also slated to increase. As researchers seek additional and affordable feedstocks for biodiesel production, these scientists turned to butter, one billion pounds of which are produced annually. Could surplus, spoiled, or nonfood-grade butter be used to make biodiesel at competitive prices?
In an effort to find out, the scientists recovered the fat from a quarter-ton of butter and converted it into the fatty acid esters that constitute biodiesel. They found that the resulting material met all but one of the official test standards for biodiesel. The study concluded that with further purification or by blending with biodiesel from other feedstocks butter biodiesel could add to the supply of biobased fuel for diesel engines.
6 Comments on “Butter for Biodiesel?”
This is such a rediculous idea!
The act of removing food items from the supply chain to make fuel, has and will end up with two terrible results: First, by removing items from the food chain greatly increased costs arrive at the consumer’s door. Example the use of corn for ethanol production has resulted in greatly increased the prices of all food items that contain corn or corn products.
To follow this with butter and dairy products will spell a death nell for the food budgets of many America’s food budgets.
I, for one, would vote against this whole idea and pursue research into non-food or waste products instead.
This is such a rediculous idea!
The act of removing food items from the supply chain to make fuel, has and will end up with two terrible results: First, by removing items from the food chain greatly increased costs arrive at the consumer’s door. Example the use of corn for ethanol production has resulted in greatly increased the prices of all food items that contain corn or corn products.
To follow this with butter and dairy products will spell a death nell for the food budgets of many America’s food budgets.
I, for one, would vote against this whole idea and pursue research into non-food or waste products instead.
This is such a rediculous idea!
The act of removing food items from the supply chain to make fuel, has and will end up with two terrible results: First, by removing items from the food chain greatly increased costs arrive at the consumer’s door. Example the use of corn for ethanol production has resulted in greatly increased the prices of all food items that contain corn or corn products.
To follow this with butter and dairy products will spell a death nell for the food budgets of many America’s food budgets.
I, for one, would vote against this whole idea and pursue research into non-food or waste products instead.
The idea is to use “surplus, spoiled, or nonfood-grade butter” which would otherwise go to waste – not usable food.
The idea is to use “surplus, spoiled, or nonfood-grade butter” which would otherwise go to waste – not usable food.
The idea is to use “surplus, spoiled, or nonfood-grade butter” which would otherwise go to waste – not usable food.