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About Biodiesel | Biodiesel Advantages | FAQ | Biodiesel Properties & Safety Data
About Biodiesel
For our FAQ section, please click here. Biodiesel is a clean burning bio-fuel, produced from domestic, renewable resources. Biodiesel contains no petroleum, but it can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend. It can be used in compression-ignition (diesel) engines with no modifications. Biodiesel is simple to use, biodegradable, non-toxic, carbon neutral and essentially free of sulphur and aromatics. Biodiesel has been around for over a century. Dr. Rudolf Diesel actually invented the diesel engine to run on vegetable oil and in-fact when he presented his engine at the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris, his engine was running on a fuel derived from peanut oil. Prior to his death in 1913 he stated that; 'The diesel engine can be fed with vegetable oils, and it will considerably help the development of agriculture in the countries which use it.' and 'The use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today. But such oils may become, in course of time as important as petroleum and the coal tar products of the present time.' However due to the low cost of mineral oils at the time, his engine was modified to run on such oils. In European countries since the mid 1990's and in UK since 2002, reductions in biofuels duty has made the use of biodiesel economically viable as is now seen to be the 'sustainable fuel of the future'. How It's Made Biodiesel is made through a process called transesterification whereby the glycerine is separated from the vegetable oil. The process leaves behind two products - biodiesel (Mono-alkyl ester) and glycerine (a valuable by-product used in soaps and other products). Back to top ^ |
(Rudolf Diesel) |
Biodiesel Advantages
There are several major advantages of using biodiesel as a fuel.
** Biodiesel can reduce green house gas emissions by 40% even when blended at a 20% mix (B20) with mineral diesel. Biodiesel will cut CO2 emissions by 100% net when used as a direct replacement to mineral diesel (B100). *** Biodiesel will work in the vast majority of diesel engines. The only exceptions are earlier (pre 1991) diesel engines, as these use natural rubber fuel lines, which biodiesel will slowly degrade. Simply change these to newer synthetic ones. Back to top ^ |
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Biodiesel Properties & Safety Data
We have complied two PDF documents for you to download and print. For the properties of biodiesel fuel, please click here. For the biodiesel (B100) material safety data sheet (MSDS), please click here. Back to top ^ |