Cyprus-Forum.com

[Olga]

One article in Cyprus Mail says that:

"Soy and corn will soon be cultivated in Cyprus specifically for biodiesel use, according to a Commerce Ministry announcement yesterday, although members of the Green Party are concerned that such cultivation will lead to a dangerous proliferation of genetically modified crops throughout Cyprus.

Biodiesel is a particular type of biofuel made by combining animal fat or vegetable oil (like rapeseed oil or used McDonald’s cooking oil) with alcohol. It can be directly substituted for diesel or blended with it (B20 means 20 per cent of the diesel is biodiesel, B50 means half, etc). Diesel cars built in the last decade can accept 100 per cent biodiesel without any problems.

Cyprus lags behind other European countries like Sweden and Finland, which produce 17 per cent and 19 per cent respectively of their energy sources from biofuels.

The warm climate of Cyprus was particularly conducive to biodiesel use since the fuel congeals at sub-zero temperatures, though he noted that additives in the biodiesel can keep the fuel from congealing.

Germany, which faces freezing winter temperatures, is the market leader in biodiesel. Sales of biodiesel at the 1,900 petrol stations in Germany has doubled to 376.6 million litres in just two years, an amount which can meet the average yearly consumption of over 300,000 passenger cars.

Energy Officer George Roditis said that the technology to convert used oils into biodiesel “is not difficult and the technology exists [in Cyprus]”, although he added that it does depend on the quality of the used oil.

When asked to respond to concerns that energy crop cultivation would consist of genetically modified plants, Roditis said that it would not be possible because such plants are illegal in Cyprus.

Quality Assurance Manager for McDonald’s in Cyprus, Chrissoulla Rossidou confirmed that a businessman who is licensed by the EU already collects used cooking oils from the various McDonald’s branches throughout the island.

Green Party volunteer Pantelis Metaxas said that for four years he drove on biodiesel, purchasing the fuel from a station in Limassol. “During that time I never had to take it to a mechanic. The car was mechanically in a better condition because I was using biodiesel. And the biodiesel was a little cheaper than regular diesel.”

Though Metaxas supports biodiesel, he was troubled over the government’s announcement that it planned to cultivate energy crops. “Unfortunately, it’s very difficult and almost impossible to get seeds that are not genetically modified. We don’t believe that we will find seeds that are not GM. And as ecologists we are very concerned about such an anti-ecological intervention in nature.”

ADVANTAGES THAT BIODIESEL OFFERS:

Burns clean and reduces carbon dioxide emissions
Often cheaper than mineral oil
Can be used alone or blended with petrol-based diesel
When blended, it can run in any conventional unmodified diesel engine
Decreases soot emissions by up to 50 per cent
Not hazardous unblended (as biodegradable as sugar and less toxic than salt)
Easily decomposes biologically (90 per cent in three weeks)
Increases engine life (removes mineral oil deposits in engine)
Smells good"

What do you think about that?
Is biodiesel a real alternative fuel for Cyprus?

[Sotos]

Why bother with oil if biodiesel can be produced cheaper and it is better for the environment as well?
Can this biodiesel be used with all kinds of diesel machines or just cars?
Are there any negatives in using it?

[cyprusgrump]

Why bother with oil if biodiesel can be produced cheaper and it is better for the environment as well?
Can this biodiesel be used with all kinds of diesel machines or just cars?
Are there any negatives in using it?

Because ‘diesel’ is a by-product of the production of petrol from oil.

Oil companies love it when we buy their rubbish to run our cars on and would hate it if we call changed to bio diesel.

After all, the very first ‘diesel’ engine ran on peanut oil!

[Sotos]

Oil companies love it when we buy their rubbish to run our cars on and would hate it if we call changed to bio diesel.

I din't know that! Why diesel is not much cheaper then?? Those oil companies have to be punished! Bring on the biodiesel

[cyprusgrump]

Oil companies love it when we buy their rubbish to run our cars on and would hate it if we call changed to bio diesel.

I din't know that! Why diesel is not much cheaper then?? Those oil companies have to be punished! Bring on the biodiesel

That’ll be tax then!

Remember before we joined the EU diesel was 20c/litre?

Now it is 55c/litre but world oil prices haven’t increased by the same amount – its all tax!

Remember before we joined the EU that we used the same diesel for our cars, heating, agriculture, etc?

Notice that now we have Euro diesel for our cars, red diesel for farmers and er heating diesel for heating? Three separate products to distribute plus separate tanks in garages, plus the police are charged with catching people using read diesel in their cars, etc. All costs money.

[andytandreou]

sorry for the short reply...

just want to say that oil prices have risen from 25 dollars per barrel to 60!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is a huge increase and prices are not going to go down. They only go down when the factors affecting the price are temporary (like a storm or very cold winters). The resent surge in the price of crude is attributed to increased demand from China and India, so unless we blow up China and India we are going to have ever increasing oil prices.

[cyprusgrump]

Yes but diesel has increased by nearly three times!

The fact is that most of the cost of fuel is tax – at least 85% in the UK and it must be a sizeable amount here too. Tax on tax, fuel duty then VAT on top!

It is convenient for politicians to blame the incredible cost of fuel on rising oil prices while governments take a huge windfall take from the oil companies profits and the tax on the fuel. They love it!

I think if the price at the pump was shown as the oil company’s price and then the tax on top the public would be much less willing to accept it.

[Sotos]

And why EU wants Cyprus to put such high tax on diesel? If diesel is cheaper then it should be sold cheaper!!

[devil]

I've never heard of anything so stupid and short-sighted in all my born days. See http://www.cypenv.org/Files/renewable.h ... lectricity

1. To grow a significant quantity of bio-oilcrops requires large areas of land. This island already has difficulty being self-sufficient in many food crops. If we grow oil crops instead, it means we shall have to import more basic food crops, which means an increase in shipping and transport, all using oil to reach here. All we are doing is to increase our holistic oil consumption.

2. To grow bio-oilcrops, we require a large quantity of water (much more than wheat and potatoes). We may have been lucky to have enough water over the past three years, but remember 1996 to 2000, with its water rationing (see http://www.protonique.com/cyprus_water/). We shall have severe drought again with insufficient water. If bio-oil irrigation robs us of natural water, it means we shall have to desalinate more water and there is hardly anything more energy-intensive than desalination. If it is done with electric pumps, it will require up to 3 kg of fossil fuels per m3 of water. If done with diesel pumps, about half this. Do the calculation: you will never get more bio-oil than you burn to produce the water.

3, Bio-oilcrops require, in the exhausted soil of this country, considerable quantities of chemical fertilisers. Guess what? You cannot make these without a considerable quantity of oil.

4. There are two types of biofuel: bio oils which are pressed out of seeds, such as olive, rape, sunflowers, soya and maize (corn); and bio-alcohol which is obtained by allowing sugar-rich crops to ferment with yeast and distilling the mash, just like whisky, brandy, kirschwasser or you name it. (There is a secondary method of treating cellulose chemically to convert it into a sugar and the rest follows, as before.) However, the mash has a limit of 14-15% alcohol, above which the yeast gets sozzled and dies, stopping the fermentation. The distillation requires heat and the amount of thermal energy required to do it generally exceeds the amount of thermal energy available from the resultant alcohol. However, it doesn't stop there, Such alcohol is never purer than about 96%, the rest being water (in an azeotrope, for the technically minded). This is fine for a car designed to burn alcohol (which ordinary cars aren't). However, it is not suitable as adding to petrol, as has been proposed, because the alcohol will dissolve in the petrol and the water will sink to the bottom of the tank, not a guaranteed way to run cars. The alcohol therefore needs dewatering, which is done by passing it through a molecular sieve, consisting of a porous zeolite which selectively absorbs the small water molecules, while letting the larger alcohol molecules pass unhindered. Unfortunately, the zeolite gets saturated and has to be regenerated by blowing very hot dry air through it to evaporate the water. Yes, you've guessed it again, to heat the large quantities of air needs energy.

As a guestimate, I would say the average holistic energy required to provide biofuels for 10% of the total motor fuels will require, on an average, something approaching 20% of all motor fuel consumption, when looked at in the Cyprus context and will require a loss of 30-50% of arable farm land and thus indigenous food production.

As I said, bloody STUPID.

[cyprusgrump]

And why EU wants Cyprus to put such high tax on diesel? If diesel is cheaper then it should be sold cheaper!!

Because they can!