I've been told I have to contribute. I will say right off that I'm kind of a Luddite, so there won't be anything fancy, like, you know, links. Anyway, in regards to the global warming event letters to Bloomberg, what if we suggest some kind of tax break-ish deal for restaurants that donate/sell their used cooking oil for veggie buses (or are we doing biodiesel?).
Since every restauranteur is up in arms about the NYC ban on trans fats in restaurants, it might make them all a little happier. What do you all think?
The difference between biodiesel and straight vegetable oil is that biodiesel is a mix of diesel and veggie oil and can be used in a standard diesel engine. The ratio of veggie to diesel varies, and the more diesel, the more particulate matter is released into the atmosphere. Though diesel creates less CO2 exhaust, it's considered a dirty fuel because particulates foul up our lower atmosphere-where we breathe. There are, however, new and very clean diesels either on the market or about to be on the market, and higher-veggie biodiesels are pretty good. The idea is also that biodiesel's CO2 emissions are cancelled out by the crops grown for the fuel. Veggie buses are, in my opinion, the better option, but they do require costly engine conversions (though I don't think NYC will be down with replacing their fleets with diesel engines/vehicles either. Maybe suggesting that all new transpo vehicles coming in have to be green? Or taxis? Garbage trucks?). They release WAY fewer particulate and CO2 emissions, with the added benefit of cancelling out with crops (is that called a closed system? Something like that). Plus, you can run them on used cooking oil, of which there is an abundance in this city, I would imagine. Think of all that cooking oil being used to run our transportation system instead of being thrown away...And maybe we should suggest painting the buses all psychedelic. Bloomberg would LOVE that.
My two cents.
(The biodiesel/veggie oil facts are off the top of my head, so check 'em out yourself.)
Oh, wait. Straight vegetable oil is not yet legal. whoops. Biodiesel it is.
much love.
Julia R.
Since every restauranteur is up in arms about the NYC ban on trans fats in restaurants, it might make them all a little happier. What do you all think?
The difference between biodiesel and straight vegetable oil is that biodiesel is a mix of diesel and veggie oil and can be used in a standard diesel engine. The ratio of veggie to diesel varies, and the more diesel, the more particulate matter is released into the atmosphere. Though diesel creates less CO2 exhaust, it's considered a dirty fuel because particulates foul up our lower atmosphere-where we breathe. There are, however, new and very clean diesels either on the market or about to be on the market, and higher-veggie biodiesels are pretty good. The idea is also that biodiesel's CO2 emissions are cancelled out by the crops grown for the fuel. Veggie buses are, in my opinion, the better option, but they do require costly engine conversions (though I don't think NYC will be down with replacing their fleets with diesel engines/vehicles either. Maybe suggesting that all new transpo vehicles coming in have to be green? Or taxis? Garbage trucks?). They release WAY fewer particulate and CO2 emissions, with the added benefit of cancelling out with crops (is that called a closed system? Something like that). Plus, you can run them on used cooking oil, of which there is an abundance in this city, I would imagine. Think of all that cooking oil being used to run our transportation system instead of being thrown away...And maybe we should suggest painting the buses all psychedelic. Bloomberg would LOVE that.
My two cents.
(The biodiesel/veggie oil facts are off the top of my head, so check 'em out yourself.)
Oh, wait. Straight vegetable oil is not yet legal. whoops. Biodiesel it is.
much love.
Julia R.
Labels: Global Warming Event
posted by CU Dems Activist Council at 7:42 PM
2 Comments:
I absolutely love the idea of all of the city's busses being painted pyschedically. I'm thinking tie-dye.
The administration is officially on board with the EarthCo/others plan to start using CU vegetable oil. They are even talking to the bus company that we use to see if it can be used in their fleets.
New York is the perfect place for mass recycling of vegetable oil. We go through loads of it, and collecting and processing it would be easy because of the compact layout of the city. I think that campaign could be a winner for us.
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