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National Biodiesel Day is a day the biodiesel industry celebrates the role of the vegetable-based fuel in helping to tackle environmental problems. It takes place on March 18, which is the date of Rudolf Diesel’s birthday. He invented diesel in 1912. He designed the diesel engine in the late 1800s to run on peanut oil. He was a visionary who knew that biofuels would become very important. In 1912, he 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.” He died in 1913, well before any hint of damage to the environment by fossil fuels, and long before the green movement, which would embrace his thinking.
在全國生物柴油日這一天，生物柴油產業將慶祝植物燃料在解決環境問題上所作出的貢獻。該節日會在每年的3月18日舉行，這一天是魯道夫·狄賽爾的誕辰。1912年，狄賽爾發明了柴油機。19世紀晚期，他設計了以花生油為能源的柴油發電機。他非常具有先見之明，并清楚地看到生物燃油的重要性。1912年，他寫到：“在今天看來，將植物燃油應用到發動機上并無功效，但是在未來，它將和石油一樣重要。他死于1913年，那時的化石燃料還沒有對環境帶來任何損害，而之后的綠色革命卻采納了他的思想。
The U.S. biodiesel industry is doing much to promote energy independence and reduce America’s thirst for oil. In 2007, manufacturers produced 500 million gallons of biofuels, which reduced the need for 12 million barrels of oil. The biofuels industry is very excited about the future of biofuels. They say biofuels greatly reduce CO2 emissions and therefore are an important part of helping countries reduce their carbon footprints. President George W Bush described bio-fuels as one of the most promising forms of renewable energy. Not everyone is so eager in their praise of biofuels. Many blame them for reducing the amount of land available for food production, which has led to food shortages and rising food prices.
美國的生物柴油產業致力于走能源獨立道路，減少美國對石油的需求。2007年，制造產業生產了5億加侖的生物柴油，這減少了美國對1200萬桶石油的需求。生物燃料產業對其未來前景充滿希望。他們稱生物燃料大大降低了二氧化碳的排放量，從而也能夠幫助其他國家減少碳足跡。總統喬治·沃克·布什將生物燃料看成是未來最有希望的可再生能源之一。并不是所有人都能夠接受生物燃料。許多人將農耕用地的減少歸罪于生物燃料，而這將導致食物短缺，物價上漲。
譯文屬可可英語原創，未經允許，不得轉載。
