Gabriella Carmona
Options for Selecting Environmentally Friendly Cars and SUVs
Is it true there are different options to help the environment when choosing the kind of car you drive? I believe we can all help save the planet by the decisions we make everyday. With today's technologies there are many environmental friendly alternatives that suit everyone's needs and personalities. For example, in previous years if you wanted an environmentally friendly car, your only option would be a compact one. In today's car market however, there are many options available including luxury cars, SUVs and even trucks.
One way of helping the environment when purchasing an automobile is choosing one that runs on biodiesel fuel. Biodiesel is made from vegetable oil, plant, animal or waste oil. Biodiesel is very inexpensive and fairly easy to make. Anyone can make it in their home kitchen. By making your own biodiesel, you not only help the environment but you are reusing waste products which makes this process a lot cleaner than the diesel you buy at gas stations.
In "Fill'er up-From the Dumpster behind the Restaurant" on the Los Angeles Times website, John Glionna and Eric Bailey state that making biodiesel will "cost only about $1.00 per gallon if you make it at home; while mass produced biodiesel would cost about fifty cents more than regular diesel."
In "Make your Own Biodiesel" on the website Journey to Forever, Keith Addison describes the process of making biodiesel at home. The process is quite simple. You choose one of three oils (vegetable, waste or animal oil) then you catalyze it with lye to remove the glycerin molecules which sit on the bottom. Then you blend the mix with methanol and let it settle for 12 to 24 hrs. You could even convert the engine in...