14 Fueling Your Car With Leftovers
From: Pat Maxwell
Series: November 2006 - Isla Earth Radio Series
Length: 01:34
- Playing
- 14 Fueling Your Car With Leftovers
- From
- Pat Maxwell
As oil and gasoline get more expensive, people are considering biodiesel as an alternative fuel. And something that you may be avoiding in your diet could become an important source of biodiesel: Animal fat.
Tallow, or rendered animal fat, is cheaper than oil. In Brazil and Australia, tallow is being tapped for diesel engines and plant boilers. And Tyson Foods, the Arkansas chicken processor, uses tallow to power its boilers and the trucks in the company?s fleet.
Large quantities of tallow are left over when beef cattle are processed, and it contains lots of energy. In the 1970s, researcher Ralph Sims demonstrated that it?s relatively easy and cheap to refine tallow so that it can be used in engines.
The world produces 100 million metric tons of fats and oils. Most of it is used for human consumption, but the leftovers could make a significant contribution to the future of alternative energy.
Also in the November 2006 - Isla Earth Radio Series series
01 The Green Reaper
(01:33)
From: Pat Maxwell
Every November 2nd, Mexicans celebrate those who have died with Day of the Dead festivities...
02 Medical Mysteries from the Deep
(01:34)
From: Pat Maxwell
Plants and animals in the ocean that might yield treatments for diseases
03 Fog Catchers in the Sky
(01:34)
From: Pat Maxwell
Chilean researchers devised a plan to capture water from the thick fog that rolled in daily from the sea.
04 Scrape, Don't Rinse
(01:34)
From: Pat Maxwell
Here?s a surprise: An efficient automatic dishwasher will use less water than hand-washing those same dishes.
05 Leaves of Three...
(01:34)
From: Pat Maxwell
Scientists say that carbon dioxide, a major contributor to global warming, is actually making poison ivy grow larger and more toxic.
06 An Eco-Friendly Auto Club
(01:34)
From: Pat Maxwell
Planning your next vacation just got a lot greener.
07 Keeping Plastic Out of the Ocean
(01:34)
From: Pat Maxwell
Many kinds of plastic are forever, or nearly so.
08 Deconstruction Preserves Building Materials
(01:34)
From: Pat Maxwell
Today, there?s a new trend in the building industry called ?deconstruction.?
09 What Does Organic Mean?
(01:34)
From: Pat Maxwell
When you?re shopping for food, how do you know if it?s really organic?
10 There's Genes in That Dirt
(01:34)
From: Pat Maxwell
Biologists who try to measure Earth?s genetic diversity have one more place to look: the dirt under our feet.
Related Pieces
Piece Description
As oil and gasoline get more expensive, people are considering biodiesel as an alternative fuel. And something that you may be avoiding in your diet could become an important source of biodiesel: Animal fat. Tallow, or rendered animal fat, is cheaper than oil. In Brazil and Australia, tallow is being tapped for diesel engines and plant boilers. And Tyson Foods, the Arkansas chicken processor, uses tallow to power its boilers and the trucks in the company?s fleet. Large quantities of tallow are left over when beef cattle are processed, and it contains lots of energy. In the 1970s, researcher Ralph Sims demonstrated that it?s relatively easy and cheap to refine tallow so that it can be used in engines. The world produces 100 million metric tons of fats and oils. Most of it is used for human consumption, but the leftovers could make a significant contribution to the future of alternative energy.
Related Website
