Biofuels in Rhode Island

Biofuels are a alterative for fossil fuels made from plants.  There are many different types ranging from ethanol made from corn and biomass (commonly agricultural waste) to biodiesel made from used vegetable oil.  Biodiesel runs the same as conventional diesel.  However, there has to be adjustments when using other forms of Biofuels and this is not the only draw back to them.

           
The major issue with biofuels is that the land that they are using to grow the vegetation necessary to produce the fuel is land that is being taken away from food production.  This is could raise food prices, making it harder for the average American family to feed it’s self. This could even lead to people in poor countries going hungry to support the gas guzzling habits of rich countries like the United States. If you were to create fuels using the waste created from the agricultural process there wouldn’t be the problem of raising food prices and there would be less waste going into landfills.  This would solve a lot of problems however, a energy efficient process of doing this is yet to be discovered and it would still not produce enough fuel for the United States.            

           
There is one process that seems promising and that is the production of biodiesel from waste vegetable oil.  This works by a company or person making deals with restaurants in their area to collect their waste oil (restaurants tend to give this oil away for free being otherwise they would have to pay to dispose of it).  Once the oil is collected it is put through a process where it is cleaned and chemically altered. You can learn more about it here.

           
Currently there is a company in Rhode Island producing and distributing biodiesel around the state.  Newport Biodiesel is a local company with over 1,000 restaurant partnerships around New England.  The provide home heating oil from many homes around the state with the help of distribution partners T.H. Malloy & sons  and Guardian Fuels. If you are interested in purchasing biodiesel, contact Newport biodiesel or one of their distribution partners.