That's the message from a an article in Tuesday's New York Times.
According to industry dogma, biodiesel is "nontoxic, biodegradable and suitable for sensitive environments," The Times reports.
Not so fast. According to a Canadian scientist, quoted in the article:
[A]s with most organic materials, oil and glycerin deplete the oxygen content of water very quickly, and that will suffocate fish and other organisms. And for birds, a vegetable oil spill is just as deadly as a crude oil spill.
In other news, a study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences warned that increased corn ethanol production will likely "worsen" the massive "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico -- where fertilizer runoff from the Midwest accumulates every year, feeding an algae bloom that blots out sea life underneath.
By Tom Philpott (From the Grist mill)
Haase Comments:
I am not sure where the NYT is getting this information... MSDS sheets lab data and DOT, EPA and the DNR will ALL confirm that ALL biofuels have similar hazardous and toxic characteristics to both people and the environment regardless that they are naturally derived.
Noone industrial manufacturer of these fuels would call them "non-toxic" or "non-hazardous" because they have to follow DOT, EPA and OSHA classification standards. Under these government protection standards, ethanol and bio-diesel have toxic, fire and aquatic life risk.
We need to remind people petroleum based fuels are from organic bio life that has just and a few million more years to cook.
But these are just facts and data....