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Environmental benefits
The environmental benefits of using vegetable oil
rather than fossil fuel is well known. Vegetable oil is described
as a 'renewable fuel' as it does not add any extra carbon
dioxide gas to the atmosphere, as opposed to fossil fuels,
which are causing changes in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide
accumulation is thought to produce 'the greenhouse effect'
which means that the atmosphere will get hotter, as if the
earth were in a greenhouse, and the climate will change accordingly.
High winds, rising sea levels, droughts are a few of the probable
results of continued burning of fossil fuels.
Vegetable oil and biodiesel production can involve
a great deal of processing and energy use, from sowing the
seed to transporting the finished product. Each stage can
reduce the environmental benefits, depending on how it is
executed, and in the worst case scenario more than 50% of
the benefits can be wasted. Intensive farming uses massive
amounts of energy to produce fertiliser, distribute the fertiliser
to the fields and harvest the oil producing seeds. Then there
is the energy intensive oil extraction from the seed and the
transportaion to and from centralised processing plant. This
energy instensive scenario can be avoided by small community
rather than large industrial operation where biofuel production
is localised rather than centralised.
Community biofuels production already occurrs in places
where there is no access to cheap energy such as electricity
or oil that we take for granted in the modern world. In more
remote places people produce biogas from waste products and
process their seed crops using more basic and sometimes even
hand operated machinery. Biodiesel production does not have
to be an energy intensive process if the crop is grown without
artificial fertiliser and the product is processed and used
locally instead of having centralised processing plant with
large road transport miles. This is our vision of the future
as oil prices rise and people become more aware of global
warming and the harm that pumping carbon out of the ground
is causing.
Ethical and Environmental
policy
We are very much aware of the possible downside of
biodiesel production and operate an ethical and envvironmental
policy. We do not sell machinery or licenses to companies
involved in:
- Pollution. All machinery must have adequate waste water
treatment facilities. Some countries, like India, are difficult
to deal with on this subject as it seems to be acceptable
for them to dump waste into rivers.
- Deforestation. This is a big problem in some countries
where huge tracts of rain forest are being cut down for
the production of palm oil.
- Cruelty to animals.
- Exploitation of the workforce and unfair pay.
- Dangerous or unhealthy practises.
Goat industries would like to consider itself as a
business of the future, where decisions are based on a holistic
vision. We wish to lead by example and pioneer solutions to
the highest standard.
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