BIOFUELS

When we burn vegetable oil in an internal combustion engine, the carbon in the oil is turned into carbon dioxide and is released into the atmosphere.

The next batch of plants grown for vegetable oil will consume carbon dioxide. The plants will release oxygen and combine the carbon with hydrogen to make vegetable oil hydrocarbons.

Instead of a system where hydrocarbons are extracted from the ground and carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere, the use of renewable fuels creates a cycle where hydrocarbons are grown and carbon is moved out of the atmosphere and into plants.

A crop of oil-producing plants will absorb exactly the same amount of carbon dioxide in order to produce a gallon of vegetable oil as a gallon of vegetable oil emits when it is burned in an engine.

Because plants produce hydrocarbons and absorb carbon dioxide, renewable fuels do not contribute significantly to global warming.