Oil Industry facts
>>EIA estimates that members of OPEC earned $673 billion in net oil export revenues in 2007, a 10 percent increase from 2006. Saudi Arabia earned the largest share of these earnings, $194 billion, representing 29 percent of total OPEC revenues. On a per-capita basis, OPEC net oil export earning reached $1,140, a 8 percent increase from 2006. Through May, OPEC had earned an estimated $423 billion in net oil export
earnings in 2008. Based on projections from the EIA June 2008 Short Term Energy Outlook (STEO), OPEC net oil export revenues could be $1,178 billion in 2008 and $1,214 billion in 2009.
WHAT IS BIODIESEL?
Biodiesel is the name of a clean-burning alternative fuel, produced from domestic, renewable resources. Biodiesel contains no petroleum, but it can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend. It can be used in compression-ignition (diesel) engines with little or no modifications. Biodiesel is simple to use, biodegradable, nontoxic, and essentially free of sulfur and aromatics.
TECHNICAL DEFINITIONS
Biodiesel - a fuel composed of mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from vegatable oils or animal fats, designated B100, and meeting the requirements of ASTM (American Society for Testing & Materials) D 6751.
IS BIODIESEL USED AS A PURE FUEL OR IS IT BLENDED WITH PETROLEUM DIESEL?
Biodiesel can be used as a pure fuel or blended with petroleum in any percentage. B20 (a blend of 20 percent by volume biodiesel with 80 percent by volume petroleum diesel) has demonstrated significant environmental benefits with a minimum increase in cost for fleet operations and other consumers.
Biodiesel is the only alternative fuel to have fully completed the health-effects testing requirements of the Clean Air Act. The use of biodiesel in a conventional diesel engine results in substantial reduction of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter compared to emissions from diesel fuel. In addition, the exhaust emissions of sulfur oxides and sulfates (major components of acid rain) from biodiesel are essentially eliminated compared to diesel.
Of the major exhaust pollutants, both unburned hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides are ozone or smog-forming precursors. The use of biodiesel results in a substantial reduction of unburned hydrocarbons. Emissions of nitrogen oxides are either slightly reduced or slightly increased depending on the duty cycle of the engine and testing methods used. Based on engine testing, using the most stringent emissions-testing protocols required by the EPA for certification of fuels or fuel additives in the U.S., the overall ozone-forming potential of the speciated hydrocarbon emissions from biodiesel was nearly 50 percent less than that measured for diesel fuel.
