The events at Copenhagen were definitely a setback for the future, but a lot of attention is going to be given nevertheless to our needs to become sustainable. There had been much hope for lasting accord in Denmark, as nations met to discuss a successor to the original Kyoto Protocol. As politics and domestic commercial interests slowed the tempo of the meeting, individual countries nevertheless promised to take significant steps of action.

As we go forward, more and more evidence accumulates pointing to how greenhouse gas emissions are causing damage to our environment. We can now see how over 300 years we have disregarded the consequences of excess energy production and how we relied on old fossil fuels. It seems likely that unless we reduce this reliance, considerable harm will ensue.

The lead is being taken in Europe, where the UK is implementing a trading scheme to force the largest polluters to buy licenses from the government allowing them to emit additional carbon. In these cases, if the companies do not act efficiently, they will incur penalties. However, if they become efficient they will get bonuses and rebates. This scheme is just an indication of what is likely to come as governments start to force consumers to address their carbon footprints.

A large part of the pollution in question can be attributed to transportation methods and our reliance on petroleum and petro diesel to transport our vehicles. Therefore, biodiesel fuel is, as such, destined to become a much more palatable alternative, as it has been shown to considerably reduce carbon dioxide related emissions when compared to conventional fuels.

In the United States, the EPA has ruled greenhouse gases to be hazardous, under the auspices of the Clean Air Act. We can now expect legislation and existing powers to be wielded, forcing emissions to be curtailed from these vehicles.

Biodiesel is emerging as a workable alternative as the solution has holistic benefits as well, and as such we are likely to see more facilities making biodiesel, more places to buy the product and many more people opting to use biodiesel for their diesel engine cars and trucks. Within Petro diesel engines, biodiesel may be used without any further modifications and can be used in a variety of different strengths.

Biodiesel has been around for a considerable period of time but has not retained much interest as conventional petroleum or petro diesel was relatively cheap and we were not sufficiently aware of the damage caused by carbon emissions. Things have definitely changed though and our society is looking for many alternative options and as such biofuel advocates must bring the discussion levels to the fore. It is time that more people moved from making homemade biodiesel to demanding that the product be made commercially available within their communities.

We now know that if we all make a concerted effort individually toward real change, whether in small things or on a large scale, anything is possible when it comes to global environmental sustainability, for us, and for our future generations.