I have a vested interest in seeing biodiesel succeed, since I own a diesel passenger
truck part car. That said, I think the premise of comparing the environmental footprint of the currently available biodiesel and diesel cars vs hybrid gasoline cars is faulted, especially if we're suggesting that one of these two approaches is a sustainable, global (or at least regional) transportation solution.
Has anyone actually thought about the waste vegetable oil market, and how many biodiesel-powered cars can be sustained in the current market? I think we're comparing cottage industry (home-processed fuels) verses global manufacturing technology (Toyoto Prius for example.)
This isn't a genuine comparison at all.
How about the corn production agri-business, that's primarily petroleum based (fertilizers, mechanization, energy consumption, tranportation and storage, etc.) - what's the actual energy cost to produce biodiesel from these crops if we take into account the entire production cycle, from sunlight, water and artificial fertilizer to fuel at the pump?
Finally, I would like someone to tell me which biodiesel-approved passenger car I can buy today in the US where the manufacturer will honor their warrant for my BD usage? Ain't one, sorry. Manufacturers are not going there until international standards exist for biodiesel manufacture. And guess which industry is fighting these regulations (hint: petroleum.) BTW, there's only Mercedes as of this date with diesel passenger cars selling new in the US.
I would wish that BD were a reality, but I've got better things to do with my spare time than tinker with a busted rotary fuel pump in my '98 Jetta because of substandard lubricity (exacerbated by the lower lubricity of the current ULSD fuel, BTW), or gelled fuel lines and clogged injectors in the colder months. Is this what we're comparing: home-spun, substandard fuels against the global manufacturing might of Toyota? No contest, hybrid wins hands down. You can't compare hybrids against an alternative that is just hypothetical.
~Joe