Renewable energy sources have been available for many hundreds of years and this was realized in those times. It can be created from the oil of various vegetable products including hemp, soybean, peanut and canola amongst others. These products are just as effective as petroleum based products and the history of biodiesel is really very interesting.
This history started with Rudolph Diesel when he designed a compression engine. He made use of peanut oil for this purpose, and he wanted to prove that this was the only fuel source which would ever be required. Way back then he knew that using renewable oil resources were a better option than using fossil fuels.
It is strange that not more people know that biodiesel was used regularly and was the only product used in the diesel engine up until the 1920’s. This was when the production of petroleum based fuels became more prolific. Henry Ford was a profound supporter of the theory of biofuels as these fatty acids are able to produce ethanol and methanol to drive engines. In fact he believed this was the future of fuels and build a special factory for the manufacture of these fuels. He believed that every vehicle he produced could be driven by this fuel.
He was at the top of his game when he built this factory and went as far as to enter into partnerships with natural oil manufacturing companies. In the 1940’s fossil fuel companies who manufactured petroleum based products, started mass marketing and advertising campaigns and as the products were cheaper than biofuels, this soon stopped the production of alternatives.
Initially biofuels were produced using soybean or other oils, in the meantime hemp had been grown in the US for a long time for many purposes (not to smoke) These other oils could not produce great quantities of biofuel, however it was discovered that oil could be manufactured from hemp which could make large quantities of fuel. Henry Ford wanted to use this discovery and recommence making biofuel from hemp oil.
At this stage in the proceedings many entrepreneurs located fossil oil wells and became rich from them, they discredited the manufacturing process for hemp oil products. They referred to it as Marijuana! The newspaper mogul William Randolph Herst launched a tirade against the production of this oil, and helped to get a Marijuana Tax Act out in place.
The Act prevented anyone from the possession of Hemp (Marijuana) without an appropriate license and the Government would not issue these licenses. This Act effectively stamped out the production of biofuel, as the man in the street was afraid they would be breaking the law if they were in possession of it. This in brief is the history of Biodiesel.
For more useful information about the History Of Biodieseland how it can effect our future be sure to visit: www.EnergySolutionsHub.com
Tags: alternative energy, biofuel, energy, environmental, history of biofuel, renewable energy, renewwable fuel