Biodiesel called Florida’s future fuel

Take some vegetable oil, add lye and methanol, shake it up and let it settle. Make the mixture wrong and you’ll produce soap. But the right mix produces a fuel fit for use in any diesel engine, which advocates say will help free the nation from its dependence on foreign oil and clean the air.

“There’s no reason we can’t be the top state in biofuel production,” he said. “One of the things we do well is grow plants.” But he admits making such fuels a significant portion of U.S. energy use is probably decades away. In the meantime, he said, biodiesel and other alternatives can incrementally help wean the country off foreign oil. Local advocates are banking on Gainesville being on the leading edge of such efforts. But they concede much more must be done to cut down on energy use before the country can gain energy independence. “This is not the solution,” said Mark Robinson, a partner in Freedom Fuels. “Conservation is really the main thing – but this is something we’ve got to do first.”

gainesville