Pig Power: Fuel of the Future?

The need to find alternative forms of fuel is becoming more and more urgent. The latest news coming from the alternative fuel industry is the conversion of pig fat, yes you read that right, pig fat to create diesel.

A US company called ConocoPhilips is working with Tyson Foods, the largest producer of meat in the world, to produce diesel created from pig fat. The companies made the announcement about their new product yesterday.

Pig fat will not be the only animal product that will be used to create fuel for cars. The companies also plan to use chickens and cows.

According to Tyson Foods and Conoco Philips the animal fat diesel is a renewable way to create power that is much cleaner than the current diesel on the market. Both companies are working hard to get the product onto the open market and hope that your local gas station will be selling it by the end of 2008. The companies have set a production target of 175 million gallons each year.

When speaking with the BBC Geoff Webster, manger of the pig fat fuel project at Tyson Foods, said, "It is chemically equivalent to diesel itself. It has lower Carbon Dioxide, it is zero sulphur, so many positive benefits for the environment."

The ConocoPhilips plant in Texas will create the first batches of the pig fat diesel. It has not yet been announced were the first pig fat diesel will go on sale in the United States.

The new fuel source may not be to everyone's taste. Many vegetarians may refuse to use it. Also the religious beliefs of some people may also deter them from the pig power pumps.

Currently much of the animal fat rendered from livestock is used in various products including pet food, soap and cosmetics. Now this fat will leave the Tyson Foods plant and go to the plant of ConocoPhilips were it will under go a process the turns it into diesel.

The creation of the fuel will not affect the food supply and no animals will be raised just for the production of the diesel. Geoff Webster said, "we won't be processing animals simply to get the fat to turn them into fuel. We're taking a by-product and using that for fuel. We feel that is a huge step forward as opposed to taking grains which are needed for food around the world and turning those into fuel."

The new fuel source may show some promise but it is sure to create some controversy on its way to the pumps. One questions does need to be asked, how much pollution will be caused in the creation of the fuel and will this cancel out the benefits of using the fuel?

Sources
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_6570000/newsid_6574600/6574657.stm
http://www.pigprogress.net/ts_pi/pigprogress.portal/enc/_nfpb/true/tspi_portlet_news_singleeditorschoice1_3_actionOverride/___2Fportlets___2Fts___2Fge___2Fnews_singleeditorschoice1___2Fcontent___2FshowDetailsList/_windowLabel/tspi_portlet_news_singleeditorschoice1_3/tspi_portlet_news_singleeditorschoice1_3id/14209/_desktopLabel/pigprogress/_pageLabel/tspi_page_news_content/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_6570000/newsid_6574600/6574657.stm