Sustainability
• Sustainability Task Force Home Page
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Sustainability defined: Meeting today’s needs for environmental stewardship, economic prosperity, and quality of life without compromising future generations’ ability to meet these needs for themselves. |
The concept of utilizing resources in a way that can be sustained indefinitely is not a new idea, but it is one that is justifiably receiving increased attention in today’s public discourse. Biodiesel, like all other renewable energy sources was developed specifically to enhance the sustainability of our use of energy resources. Petroleum is a finite resource. Continuous and increased depletion of this resource as a transportation fuel is therefore by definition non-sustainable. This has been evident virtually since the beginning of petroleum’s dominance as an energy source. Visionary leaders such as Rudolf Diesel, Henry Ford, and George Washington Carver, recognized that petroleum was not sustainable and devoted a significant amount of time and effort toward the development of renewable energy through sustainable agriculture.
Biofuels in general, and biodiesel specifically, along with energy conservation and an array of other fuels and strategies, offer significant opportunities to enhance the sustainability of our use of energy resources.
This section is devoted to providing the facts and data relative to the many individual, and complex issues that fall under the umbrella term of “sustainability”. These issues include Food and Fuel, deforestation, global warming, health/environmental impacts.
The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) supports efforts to ensure that biodiesel produced and sold in the U.S. comes from sustainable resources and is against any non-sustainable practices in producing agricultural commodities.
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