Midnight Oil

[Powderworks] NMOC - Interesting Environmental Website.

mbtigger mbtigger at charter.net
Mon Jun 7 23:44:19 MDT 2004


Hello Fellow Workers

I know there are a lot of folks like me out there who try in some small
ways to be Environmentally Friendly. I was thinking about owning and
using automobiles and was looking up Biodiesel fuel when I came across
this site

http://www.journeytoforever.org/

Someone may have posted this link before, sorry if I am repeating.

This site has a large amount of links. There is a lot of info here. I
think I may keep eyes open for a diesel station wagon and try to run it
off Biodiesel or even convert it for vegetable oil use. At the site you
can read about converting waste Vegetable Oil to Biodiesel. There is
something wonderfully satisfying about the idea of stopping at the local
fast food place, picking up the used vegetable oil, and running my car
on it. The hard part is remembering to keep looking for a car that fits
my needs that can run on biodiesel. It might be years before I find
exactly what I am looking for, but if I do, it will be an interesting
experiment.

---ASIDE------
I know there are quite a few chemists and CE's on the list. The
Conversion of Waste Vegetable Oil to Biodiesel is simply the
esterifcation the vegetable oil. You have to generate Sodium Methoxide
(from Methanol and Sodium Hydroxide) and proceed under appropriate
conditions. I have no idea what to do with the waste glycerin - maybe
you could make soap with it.
-End of Aside-------

Now for a small rant. Even with my meager abilities as a chemist, I have
my name as an author on 5 or 6 publications. Good Scientific
publications are full of references and acknowledgments. Looking around
this site I found facts and figures that have no references. This is the
kind of thing that has given the word "environmentalist" a bad rep in
some circles. When an author writes he HAS to acknowledge sources, and
those sources have to withstand the onslaught of criticism and
challenges. Some scientific facts and models that are held dear will be
proved wrong. But in then end our scientific models will more accurately
reflect the world we live in. When we better information about the
procceses that shape our future, we can better shape our own future.

>From a former chemist/current stay at home father - who has had a couple
beers under his belt. 

Thanks for reading

Michael