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| August 10, 2006 |  |
Oil is the life blood of the nation’s economy. However, the country’s current oil sources and insatiable consumption present a set of enormous challenges: Heavy reliance on foreign oil threatens the nation’s energy security. Air pollution severely damages public health. Greenhouse gas emissions contribute to global warming.
Diesel fuel is a significant component of this problem. Representing 23 percent of the oil used for transportation and home heating, diesel fuel adds 428 million tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, contributes to the premature deaths of 21,000 Americans, and requires 29 billion gallons of oil imports—each year.
There is a unique, ready solution to this diesel problem—biodiesel. A renewable, alternative fuel made from vegetable oil, biodiesel is domestically produced, clean burning, and requires no engine modifications or infrastructure investments. Thus, for diesel’s primary consumers—the transportation and home heating industries—our nation’s energy challenge can be affordably addressed through biodiesel use today.