BIODIESEL INFORMATION / prelude

introduction

by Matt Lechien

Prelude

Before going further on this file, it’s important for you to know what’s being prepared concerning biodiesel production.

Being a biodiesel activist is very respectful, as long as there is a logic behind it. As we will see in this prelude, there exist some very environment friendly biodiesel, but also some which isn’t at all. Politicians and industrials from ages have long shown their cynism and blindness concerning energy acquisition. It will become biodiesel’s faith if nothing is done to counter these serial polluters.

The Earth-destroying Biodiesel

As everybody knows, the World’s oil ressources won’t last forever. That’s why oil companies have taken some advance and prepare their future. That’s even more urgent as, since 1st january 2005, according to a european directive, each EU state has to promote the use of bio carburants. An other directive states that 2% of carburant use in 2005 must be from bio source, as well as 5,75% in 2010.

Read the directive (in french) :

http://www.surrealiste.org/dossiers/biodiesel/loi-eu.pdf

So what will happen ?

It already began, oil companies will build big factories in our countryside. These green oil refineries, in the middle of giant sunflower and other oleaginous fields will be managed according to the industrial standards, far away from environment friendly criterions.

Consequences ?

Here is exactly what will happen: as biodiesel is intrinsically environment friendly, oil companies, who are good at denaturing everything they care of, will profit of it to sell mud under a green name. As biodiesel isn’t required to be eatable, they won’t hesitate to use many fertilizer and other chemical stuff. They will also profit of this occasion to make doubtful citizens accept genetically modified plants by arguing that GM technologies help reduce polution. As a result, instead of provocating disasters only in countries full of mineral oil, they will do it everywhere by destroying grounds and ecosystems.

A vicious strategy

We saw it in France with the TIPP [tn. French tax on mineral oil related products], oil companies and car industries made an alliance so that this tax is also applied on vegetal originating oil. This for one reason: these industries owe themselves each other by stock exchanges, and they want to keep their part on this highly profitable market. Else, they wouldn’t survive the end of the mineral oil money flood. To provide enough green carburant to the common occidental citizen, they will import
vegetal oil from countries which aren’t able to eat everyday. They will deliver it using the former oil tankers. In case of oil slick, consequences will be less harmfull but the problem will still be the same. This illustrates well the consequence of charging institutions of revolutions: immobilism.

Beware of false flags

Many of these farmers that we saw demonstrating, asking for a bigger development of the bio carburant market, aren’t environmentalists but conservatives from the FNSEA (tn. Farmer union in France known for it’s productivist positions known for it’s violent demonstrations against environmentalists). Some were asking to use the lying fallow fields to produce biodiesel. This would have evident bad consequences on the ground’s quality, but could even be used by agricultural industry as a green bandage. They use it as a second argument: as energetic oleaginous plants absorb many chemicals from the ground, they purify it. Of course that’s good, but not if it’s
just to make the use of chemicals systematic. Once again, the goal isn’t to help endangered peasants, but to make the richests get richer.

Ways of production

As you can read it in the array below, sunflower is far from being the most profitable to produce oil, with seaweed being the richest. So, why isn’t this oil source priviledged toward others? After all, there is seaweed on every sea coast, and if that’s not enough that’s very easy to cultivate it. Get your own conclusion out of it yourself, but for my part i think the reason is on the mineral oil, car and agricultural lobby side that we have to search for the answer, each of them for different reasons.

Link to array :

http://www.surrealiste.org/dossiers/biodiesel/tableau.gif

The Biodiesel, really bio

Recently, i had the occasion to visit an agricultural exploitation completely oriented toward sustainable development. It will soon be equiped with a traditional press to produce high quality drinkable oil as well as biodiesel. Using this system, the peasant get twice his advantage, as he can use the pressed plants as food for animals or compost it.

The biodiesel we advise comes out of one simple cold pression and works perfectly. So no need for gigantic manufactures as with the former mineral oil industry. That’s why we have to support farmers that respect the Earth, and not favor the emergence of an immense green oil conglomerate which will destroy the planet like it’s predecessors.

So now, you may ask yourself, how much does it cost to drive being environment friendly? Concerning future false biodiesels from companies, it seems the price will be a little bit more costly than diesel before the recent price high risings, including the appropriate taxes. Governments aren’t ready to renounce on this tax, very important financial source. With real biodiesel bought in the farm, in our countryside, we use to buy it 0,55 euro a liter, and each side is satisfied - except governments and oil companies of course.

I can hear the voices of people arguing that shutting the financial ressources of the state means less money for the community. But no country ever financed people oriented causes with oil’s food. It now seems that everywhere money only goes to the army, police and so called justice. So let’s recover this important part of our buying power and at the same time send these governors a message: we want an other world, and we know which one.

An idea is to find the appropriate name for industrial green carburant so that consumers don’t get confused by their bionames (for example: monsantodiesel). Of course, at the same time, we keep the name biodiesel for environment friendly ones. Don’t hesitate to share your ideas.

Conclusion

The trap concerning biodiesel is that it gets a false underground and romantic image while in reality that’s nothing. What makes doubtful is the recent multiple declarations about it by Chirac and Raffarin (tn. French president and prime minister): of course they are fervent activist for industrial green carburants. Of course, if these two people invest their time in this challenge, that’s not for it’s revolutionnary aspect. Advertizing green carburant without accounting damages during production is blindfolded and irresponsible. Also in the Internet jungle, some sharped teeth entrepreneurs already try to sell you the polluting industry for future.

By acting now, we would get some advance, so that we can counter oil companies’ malicious agenda. For this to happen, we have to spread a complete and honest solution all over the world. There should be a public debate, and industrials would have no chance. Don’t hesitate to bring this debate in your associations or worker unions; at least, once, they would have been useful. Don’t hesitate to create local collectives around it. We can win this battle, as mineral oil companies will need at least 5 years to adapt to the vegetal specificities, and they still have to recover their last huge investments. At the same time, serious peasants (which exist everywhere) are able to produce big quantities very quickly. This movement already began. In political strategy, that’s always profitable to profit of your adversary’s imbalance to make it fall nearly without any effort.

If nothing is done now, if we continue to yell everywhere « I love biodiesel » without acting, then we will see sommercials on TV promoting the last green label 4WD. But nothing would have changed under the sun. A sunflower doesn’t make you environmentalist.

Now that you are informed customer and that i don’t doubt you can prove responsible, let’s go to practical works while being sure of where we’re going.