Biodiesel in Malaysia Essay Example for Free

Biodiesel in Malaysia Essay In the United States, the majority of biodiesel is made from soybean or canola oils, but is also made from waste stream sources such as used cooking oils or animal fats. Biodiesel is a diesel replacement fuel that is manufactured from vegetables oils, recycled cooking greases or oils, or animal fats. History of biodiesel around the World Transesterification of a vegetable oil was conducted as early as 1853 by scientists E. Duffy and J. Patrick, many years before the first diesel engine became functional. Rudolf Diesels prime model, a single 10 ft (3 m) iron cylinder with a flywheel at its base, ran on its own power for the first time in Augsburg, Germany on August 10, 1893. In remembrance of this event, August 10 has been declared International Biodiesel Day. Diesel later demonstrated his engine and received the Grand Prix (highest prize) at the World Fair in Paris, France in 1900. This engine stood as an example of Diesels vision because it was powered by peanut oil a biofuel, though not biodiesel, since it was not transesterified. He believed that the utilization of biomass fuel was the real future of his engine. In a 1912 speech Diesel said, The use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today but such oils may become, in the course of time, as important as petroleum and the coal-tar products of the present time. During the 1920s, diesel engine manufacturers altered their engines to utilize the lower viscosity of petrodiesel (a fossil fuel), rather than vegetable oil (a biomass fuel). The petroleum industries were able to make inroads in fuel markets because their fuel was much cheaper to produce than the biomass alternatives. The result, for many years, was a near elimination of the biomass fuel production infrastructure. Only recently have environmental impact concerns and a decreasing cost differential made biomass fuels such as biodiesel a growing alternative. Research into the use of transesterified sunflower oil, and refining it to diesel fuel standards, was initiated in South Africa in 1979. By 1983 the process for producing fuel-quality, engine-tested biodiesel was completed and published internationally. An Austrian company, Gaskoks, obtained the technology from the South African Agricultural Engineers; the company erected the first biodiesel pilot plant in November 1987, and the first industrial-scale plant in April 1989 (with a capacity of 30,000 tons of rapeseed per annum). Throughout the 1990s, plants were opened in many European countries, including the Czech Republic, Germany and Sweden. France launched local production of biodiesel fuel (referred to as diester) from rapeseed oil, which is mixed into regular diesel fuel at a level of 5%, and into the diesel fuel used by some captive fleets (e. g. public transportation) at a level of 30%. Renault, Peugeot and other manufacturers have certified truck engines for use with up to that level of partial biodiesel; experiments with 50% biodiesel are underway. During the same period, nations in other parts of the world also saw local production of biodiesel starting up: by 1998 the Austrian Biofuels Institute had identified 21 countries with commercial biodiesel projects. 100% Biodiesel is now available at many normal service stations across Europe. In September of 2005 Minnesota became the first U. S. state to mandate that all diesel fuel sold in the state contain part biodiesel, requiring a content of at least 2% biodiesel. History of biodiesel in Malaysia One such fuel, which has been gaining prominence in recent years, is biofuel. Clean and renewable, biofuel has been touted as the answer to the issue of the diminishing of energy reserves. It was led by Yang. Berbahagia Tan Sri Datuk Dr Yusof Basiron, former Director General of MPOB, MPOB has been the pioneer and is at the forefront in researching into palm biodiesel project. Since the 1980s, MPOB in collaboration with the local oil giant, PETRONAS, has begun to develop a patented technology to transform crude palm oil into a viable diesel substitute. This process involves the transesterification of crude palm oil into palm oil methyl esters or palm biodiesel. It has also been successfully demonstrated in a 3000 tonnes per year pilot plant located in the MPOB headquarters. Palm biodiesel has been systematically and exhaustively evaluated as diesel fuel substitute from 1983 to 1994. These included laboratory evaluation, stationary engine testing and field trials on a large number of vehicles including taxis, trucks, passenger cars and buses. Exhaustive field trials with 30 Mercedes Benz of Germany mounted onto passenger buses have been successfully completed with each bus covered 300,000 km, the expected life of the engines. Biodiesel in Malaysia In Malaysia, biodiesel called the Envo Diesel was launched by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Tuesday 22 March 2006. Malaysia currently produces 500,000 tonnes of biofuel annually and the government hopes to increase this number this year. Envo diesel blends 5% processed palm oil (vegetable oil) with 95% petrodiesel. In contrast, EUs B5 blends 5% methyl ester with 95% petrodiesel. Diesel engine manufacturers prefer the use of palm oil methyl ester blends as diesel engines are designed to handle 5% methyl esters meeting the EN14214 biodiesel standard, which palm oil cannot meet. Malaysia announced that it will build three plants to produce biodiesel from palm oil, as part of efforts to reduce its dependency on foreign oil and increase demand for domestically produced palm oil. Palm biodiesel is set to become a viable alternative to petroleum diesel, Commodities Minister Peter Chin Fah Kui told an international palm oil congress in Kuala Lumpur. Palm biodiesel is attractive when oil is above $43 he added. Crude oil is currently trading around $65 a barrel. With fossil oil fuel becoming lesser and lesser and ultimately depleting the world over, it might be wise for Malaysia to adopt and implement the use of these renewable fuel resources early, as such the national oil company, PETRONAS, must take the foremost initiative first to tap this resource by making research on the blending palm oil diesel with fossil diesel to the best possible combination so that all diesel engines in this country could start using this blend or just purely palm oil bio-diesel which has been found to be an equally efficient and effective replacement. The initiative will be the first in the world on a national scale, since Malaysia is a gross producer and net exporter of both palm oil and also of fossil oil, there is no disadvantage whether Malaysia export less palm oil or more fossil oil which is value added in the form diesel and petrol. Whether or not it is economical or practical to implement this is purely a matter of policy by the government. If export fossil diesel fuel to be consumed ; used in Malaysia alone including subsidies Malaysia could increase their foreign reserves and offset the opportunity cost created by the palm oil price fluctuation and direct export earnings from palm oil. This policy implementation should be long term and will benefit future generations of Malaysians because palm oil diesel cannot be depleted owing to the fact it is a renewable resource and when in use in diesel engines it will be environmentally friendly. Whereas fossil oil diesel can be depleted and also can cause environmental damage. The cost for producing palm oil diesel could be reduced if used cooking oil from big consumers like KFC, Mc Donalds and other fast food chains could contribute used cooking oil for recycling into diesel for consumption by diesel engines. The cost of producing bio-diesel or palm oil diesel could be a fraction compared to producing fossil diesel, as crude or palm oil of the lowest grade such as soap making fats and also palm oil sludge waste could be used and it could be converted easily into bio-diesel for engine consumption on a very large scale and if there is an economy of scale the production cost could be further reduced. much research have been done by others including the King of Thailand; and the results observed have been proven to be viable and positive and therefore Malaysia should pursue this policy of implementation as the first on the national scale to enjoy the economy of scale. In etrol engines, pure bio-ethanol has been found to be an efficient and effective alternative replacement for the petrol fuel or if necessary also by blending both with less of petrol and more of ethanol as engine fuels, the optimum combination ratio to be determined by further research for all types of petrol engines; much res earch have also been done by others who have found this advantage, recently in china, a province which is a renown corn producer has been successfully producing ethanol from old and outdated stock of corn for consumption by petrol engines in its pure form without blending on large scale, that is consumption by the whole province, they are also burning bio-residues ; wastes from the fermentations plants for distilling the alcohol ethanol. Bio-ethanol could be produced by a local company using proven foreign technology on a large scale, by using bio-mass from wood wastes from forest industries, plants wastes from orchard trimmings ; also all types of wastes from sugar, maize, tapioca, palm oil ; rubber plantations ; also from reeds, grass ; rice husks from padi fields; garbage, rubbish and other wastes in the modern waste disposal incinerators could fuel the distilling of the ethanol and also produce electricity if the excess heat could be further harnessed. most of our fossil petrol and fossil diesel to be used ; consumed in the country could then be exported to earn foreign exchange reserves or the fossil oil reserves themselves be preserved for our future generations or whichever way is truly feasible and viable. Savings and conservation of our natural resources and establishing of Malaysia’s own renewable non-depleting alternative resources of fuels could be achieved using the two methods said above if imple mented by the Malaysian government on a large scale basis could result with whole new industries that could offshoot from these initiatives. These initiatives could be realised to produce and distribute bio-ethanol and palm oil bio-diesel on a large scale, from biomass, made available from the said waste resources mentioned above, this will involve investments of about between US$1 billion to US$10 billion which Malaysia can attract outside investors interested in this program because of the large biomass waste resources available in Malaysia. The end products could even be exported to other countries lacking such resources like for example Singapore at a price cheaper than fossil fuel. Disadvantages of Biodiesel in Malaysia Projects requiring Malaysian and Indonesian palm oil as feedstock have been criticized by some environmental advocates. A Friend of the Earth has published a report asserting that clearance of forests for oil-palm plantations is threatening some of the last habitat of the orangutan. Over the past decade, Malaysia has converted large tracts of tropical rainforest to palm oil plantations on the island of Borneo. Recently, several Malaysian firms were implicated in illegal burning in Indonesia that produced a polluting haze that choked residents of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Malaysias remaining old growth forests are, biologically, some of the richest on the planet and are home to a number of endangered species including forest elephants, rhinos, orangutans, tigers, monkeys, and tapir. The government has been working to encourage ecotourism but still struggles policing its own forests.

A Students Comments on the United States Marine Corps Website :: Sell Websites Buy Web Sites

A Student's Comments on the United States Marine Corps Website The ritual of Marine boot camp can be found at the website titled United States Marine Corps. This is a website devoted obviously to the United States Marine Corps. It is the official recruitment and information site of the Marines and is directed toward those who are interested in the military organization and would like more information. The site begins with a small movie introduction and then is organized into three categories that are under the titles â€Å"those who are warriors†, â€Å"those who are driven†, and â€Å"those who belong†. These categories go in depth about the history and beliefs held by the Marines. It also shows the hard work and aspects of boot camp in Parris Island, South Carolina. This web site is considered a credible reference. It has been developed by the United States corps">Marine Corps military organization. The credentials are based on the background of the U.S. Marines and the U.S. government. There is not apparent documentation on the web site stating the latest updates and the history of past updates; however, there is a copyright on the site for year 2003 made to the U.S. Marine Corps. The information, since made by the U.S. Marines, is accurate and verifiable with the government and the U.S. Marines. There is complete coverage of the topic of becoming a part of the Marines and it is straightforward on its bias to promote the Marines’ military defense in favor of others. The fulfilled criteria prove that the site is credible to use for research. For a website to be appropriately used in a research paper, the site must be organized to easily access information that is needed on the site. On the site United States Marine Corps, the topics are arranged in categories and then sub categories that relate to the larger category. It is easy to read through the options available on the side navigation bar and by scrolling over pictures for links about the U.S. Marines within the website. There is also a HTML version of the website in the case flash movies cannot be seen on the computer the audience is on.

How Have Western Views of Knowledge Changed over Time? Essay

Throughout history, cultures have held disparate views on the nature of knowledge. Epistemology, the branch of philosophy that focuses on basic questions such as: â€Å"What is knowledge? How do we know what we know? †, lies at the heart of these views. In Western culture, the answers to these basic questions have changed markedly over time. Throughout history, this evolution in philosophy has been inextricably linked to science and religion. Much of Western thought has been heavily influenced by the philosophy of the Ancient Greeks. In particular, the epistemological views of the Ancient Greeks dominated Western thought for centuries. Of all the Greek philosophers, Plato was one of the most influential. In his most famous work The Republic, Plato used the Allegory of the Cave to describe the role of sensory perception in knowledge acquisition. In his analogy, Plato described a cave in which people were chained down in such a way that prevented them from looking anywhere but forward. Behind them was a fire and in front of them was a wall that reflected shadows from that fire. The prisoner’s captors manipulated these shadows to create forms and stories. The forms and stories that the prisoners saw were the only reality that they knew. Eventually the prisoners left the cave and found true reality outside. It was only then that the prisoners understood that what they had perceived until this moment was a false perception. The Allegory of the Cave served to illustrate Plato’s epistemological views. Today, we describe Plato’s philosophical views as rationalist. He argued against reliance on sensory experience because he believed that it failed to provide us with any guarantee that what we experience was, in fact, true. He believed that the information we get by relying on sensory experience is constantly changing and often unreliable. It can be evaluated only by appealing to higher principles that do not change. In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato was comparing our sensory perception to the shadows on the wall of the cave. Plato saw us as the chained prisoners unable to know anything but this false reality. Only by leaving the cave and ascending to higher orders of thought are we able to know true reality. Implicit in this view was the belief that true knowledge cannot be found through empirical investigation. According to Plato, empirical knowledge was merely opinion. Only thought and abstract reasoning could produce true knowledge. The rationalist view of epistemology dominated much of Western thought for centuries. Eventually, progress in science during the Renaissance changed this. One of the first to change these dominant views was Andreas Vesalius. In 1543, Vesalius published De Humanis Corporis Fabrica (On the Workings of the Human Body), an elaborately illustrated atlas of human anatomy. While Vesalius’ published work had significant historical importance in the field of medicine, his most enduring legacy was his revolutionary challenge of the medical conventions of his day. For centuries, physicians had relied on reading texts from Galen for medical knowledge rather than participating in the direct dissection of human corpses. Vesalius promoted the practice of dissection and hands on experience. By overthrowing the Galenic tradition and relying on his own observations, Vesalius was advocating an empirical understanding of the human body. This shift from rationalism to empiricism became one of the defining characteristics of the Scientific Revolution. In direct contrast to rationalism, empiricism emphasized the acquisition of knowledge through direct observation and experiment. Empiricism not only encouraged but required reliance on our senses. This was in direct opposition to Plato’s epistemological view that had dominated for a millennium. This shift from Plato’s rationalism to scientific empiricism had significant ramifications for philosophy. While before this time there had always been collaboration between science and philosophy and religion, there had been no real distinction between them. Now, empirical knowledge served as a way of testing philosophical knowledge. This would ultimately lead to their incompatibility and their eventual separation. This separation is largely attributed to Galileo, one of the major figures during the Scientific Revolution. Even in his time, Galileo was a renown scientist and a philosopher. While he relied heavily on empirical methods in his studies of physics and astronomy, he also depended on rational thinking in his use of mathematics. It was through his combined use of empirical observations and rational thought that he confirmed the Copernican view that the sun was the center of the universe. However, the Copernican heliocentric worldview conflicted with the dominant geocentric view espoused by philosophers from the time of Aristotle. Making matters even more complicated was the fact that philosophers couched this dispute as a religious matter arguing that a heliocentric worldview went against the teachings of the Bible. As the geocentric view had been adopted by the church, the heliocentric worldview was branded as heresy. Galileo, certain of the physical truth of his heliocentric paradigm and at the same time devout in his religious beliefs, worked to reconcile this conflict by divorcing the church from â€Å"purely physical matters, where faith is not involved. † By working to separate science, philosophy, and religion, Galileo was attempting to reestablish the compatibility of science and religion. Despite Galileo’s attempts, the conflict between scientific and religious worldviews is still evident today. The epistemological tradition of today has created a dominant worldview based on evidence. As during the time of Galileo, this worldview has at times conflicted with widely held religious beliefs. This divide, empiricism vs. faith, has become an increasingly prominent conflict in American politics. A recent announcement by GOP presidential candidate, Rick Perry highlights this divide. Rick Perry recently publicly declared his disbelief in the theory of evolution in favor of intelligent design. The theory of evolution is an explanation of the origin of life widely supported across numerous scientific disciplines. Though science and empiricism overwhelming supports the theory of evolution, it does not largely accepted by the populace. The controversial nature of evolution has emerged because, once again, a â€Å"purely physical matter† has been politicized as a religious matter. Rick Perry’s views on evolution illustrate a larger phenomenon in U. S. politics. That is, views regarding the evolution/intelligent design conflict tend to be politically divided. Intelligent design or faith based arguments are generally forwarded by conservative Republicans such as Rick Perry. Evidence based empirical arguments, such as evolution, are championed by liberal Democrats. Science has become political as conservatives are aligned with religion.

Benefits of Using Microsoft Excel Essay - 1639 Words

Benefits of Using Microsoft Excel Since the beginning of the American school system; educators have tried to improve their teaching techniques in order, to be more effective in the classroom. With the recent technological advances we have benefited from in the past couple of decades; the educational system has greatly improved. For the last ten to fifteen years, the school system has successfully phased in the curriculum frequent computer usage in the classrooms, in order to improve the students ability to adapt to the growing use of computers in the work force. Teachers have based a lot of their assignments to the use of computers; nowadays it would be a rarity not to find a least one computer lab in a school building. The†¦show more content†¦Students are often asked to collect, analyze and then interpret the data that the used or found while completing the experimentation. Microsoft Excel can be an invaluable tool in which students can utilize when completing their scientific research. Ian Bridge wood (Modeling Chemical Reactions Using Microsoft Excel, 2001) explains this phenomenon when he describes the benefits of using spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel. Bridgewood considers Microsoft Excel is an â€Å"excellent tool† because it the software allows the user to do repetitive calculations, along with presenting the data in graphical representation; which is an exceptional effective teaching tool. Bridgewood also believes that, â€Å"spreadsheet software like Excel is an ideal dynamic tool for studying chemical equilibriums.† Excel can also be used effectively in lower level of science. Education World (Bulion, L., 2001) gives many example of how science teachers in elementary and middle school can use Excel when they are teaching their students about weather and temperature. 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