[Liberty Rattler]

OK, I posted my notes.

Now you tell me. How much cotton seed is currently being produced and what is it being used for? How much is available for making bio-diesel? And, how much of a dent will that make in the total fuel budget of our country?

I'm all for utilizing the resources we have efficiently. But we have to look at the big picture.

For example, in the case of "waste vegetable oil", when I was young, I worked for a number of fry-resturants. The used fry oil was never wasted but was collected by the tallow company and used to make soap, glue, and who knows what other products. The fact is that it was a by-product to us but not "waste" at all. If all "waste fry-oil" were to get made into bio-diesel, where are we to get soap from?

The devil is in the details, FRiend.

[thackney]

The fact is that it was a by-product to us but not "waste" at all. If all "waste fry-oil" were to get made into bio-diesel, where are we to get soap from?

From the same source.

How is biodiesel made?
Biodiesel is made through a chemical process called transesterification whereby the glycerin is separated from the fat or vegetable oil. The process leaves behind two products -- methyl esters (the chemical name for biodiesel) and glycerin (a valuable byproduct usually sold to be used in soaps and other products).

[P-40]

If all "waste fry-oil" were to get made into bio-diesel

Waste oil makes up one tiny fraction of the biodiesel market...and that fraction shrinks daily. For whatever reason, it remains the most popular publicly perceived idea of the source of biodiesel though.