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Tuesday, 8 January, 2008 4:27 PM
How We Can Get Out Of The Middle
East And Put Billions Back Into American Workers’ Pockets
Nettleton, Miss. –
Oil prices are through the roof and it’s costing us dearly.
We empty our pockets in order to line those of the oil barons in
the Middle East and elsewhere. Our dependence on their crude oil
continues to deepen at an alarming rate due to our consumption habits.
However, America has
the technology and the natural resources to break this reliance
on the Middle East. What’s more, by buying American fuel we
would stimulate the economy and keep our US dollars in our US pockets.
As a nation we might
predominantly use gasoline-engine vehicles for personal use, but
our freight and shipping industry is wholly diesel based. Factor
in the diesel needed to power many generators and construction equipment
in the country, and it becomes clear that we use a substantial amount
of diesel per year. Alternative fuels and energy specialist Dr.
Richard Craven believes this market is crucial in our breaking free
of Middle Eastern oil dependence.
“Diesel fuel accounts
for around 36 billion gallons of petroleum consumed in the US each
year – and that figure is for highway transportation use alone,”
says Dr. Craven. “That is over 100 billion dollars a year,
and there is absolutely no reason why we should be paying that sum
to a Middle Eastern company for fuel, when it is readily available
from companies here in America.”
With 20 years of his
career spent in the chemical research and development with emphasis
in the past decade on environmentally friendly fuels and alternative
energy, Dr. Craven is now the spokesperson for Universal Bioenergy,
a Mississippi based biodiesel manufacturer. While he acknowledges
that an increased usage of biodiesel benefits Universal Bioenergy,
he is quick to point out that the benefits for other companies and
industries far outstrip those of the biofuel manufacturers.
Because biodiesel is
manufactured from vegetable oils – American farmers’ crops
– and animal fats/greases, so too the US agricultural industry
and its associated service sectors see increased revenues. This
in turn creates more jobs, equating to more consumers with disposable
incomes to spend. Increased consumer demand stimulates the manufacturing
industries that freight their goods across the nation using …
that’s right, more American biodiesel, thus perpetuating the
boom-cycle.
As if the economic boom
and independence from the Middle East weren’t good news enough,
the positive environmental impact would be massive. “The benefits
to the environment are substantial,” Dr. Craven explains. “We’ve
all seen a truck pull away from the lights in a huge black cloud
of smoke, but with biodiesel that is greatly reduced. It essentially
contains no sulfur, so there is reduced acid rain caused by sulfur
containing diesel exhaust emissions. Also, biodiesel produces far
smaller carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and other hydrocarbon emissions.
Of course because you’re growing more plants from which to
manufacture the fuel, there is more vegetation to consume these
carbon emissions anyway. It’s a closed-loop.”
This ‘green’
side to biodiesel also has positive financial factors for the US.
Some of the plants used for producing biodiesel feedstocks can grow
in areas not suitable for ‘edible foodstock’ plants, therefore
farmers and co-operatives can utilize formerly unused land to generate
increased revenues. Additionally, many of these alternative feedstock
crops available for biodiesel production can produce more than twice
the yield of edible foodstock crops as biodiesel feedstock, which
again leads to increased productivity and increased profit.
Perhaps biodiesel’s
ace in the hole is that it is a 100% renewable fuel. “Crude
oil is running out, and when anything goes into short supply, its
price increases,” observes Dr. Craven. “As this happens,
biodiesel will be more cost-effective for users. There are already
tax breaks for green fuel companies and they usually pass on their
savings to the consumers via price cuts. As productivity increases,
this trend will increase also.”
It is such an elegant
and simple solution – certainly not rocket science. Although,
with the advances in technology that Dr. Craven and his peers are
spearheading, perhaps biodiesel will be used as the rocket fuel
of the future! But wherever it leads, the chance to decrease our
spending in the Middle East and increase our economy at home should
be embraced.
About Dr. Richard
Craven
Dr. Richard Craven is
the national spokesperson for Universal Bioenergy. Much of his career
has been spent in the chemical research and development of environmentally
friendly fuels and alternative energy. Dr. Craven worked as lead
chemical researcher and developer at Antek Research Inc – a
non-profit research firm specializing in environmental issues, including
optimizing biodiesel processes.
Mississippi based Universal
Bioenergy is a biofuel manufacturer at the forefront of the green
technologies revolution. Biodiesel is made from vegetable oil, or
animal fat; it is biodegradable, non-toxic, and typically produces
up to 78% less net carbon emissions than petroleum-based diesel
fuel. Biodiesel is used to power cars, buses, trucks, construction
equipment, locomotives, boats, generators, and is also used as heating
oil. Universal Bioenergy’s refinery is one of the most economical,
efficient, and compactly designed plants in the United States, with
a smaller footprint than typical plants for the same production
capacity. Universal’s unique manufacturing process requires
less time and less energy to yield a fuel of high quality and effectiveness.
Universal Bioenergy’s website can be found at www.universalbioenergy.com.
Source: News and
Experts
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