Biodiesel Advantages and Biodiesel Facts
Put simply, biodiesel is a renewable clean fuel for use in automobile engines and domestic heating in place of and as an alternative to petroleum, which is not a content of biodiesel. Biodiesel can however be blended with petroleum diesel in any proportion to run diesel engines. Biodiesel advantages are being easy to use, biodegradable and free from toxins, sulfur and aromatics. It is not raw vegetable oil contrary to popular perception but has to be produced from animal fats or oils like soybean, rapeseed, etc. by a process called transesterification whereby the glycerin content of the oil is removed by chemical reaction with alcohol. There is laid down specifications for production of biodiesel for industrial use as fuel for standardizing the quality and performance of the fuel. The current industry specification for biodiesel is ASTM D6751. Its health impacts have been cleared in USA by Amendments to the Clean Air Act of 1990. Also the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) of USA has recognized selling and distribution of biodiesel of ASTM D6751 specification as a legal fuel for use in motor engines. On the other hand, there is no recognition for raw vegetable oil by EPA as it does not meet the fuel specifications of biodiesel and thus has no legal sanctity as fuel for motor engines. Pure biodiesel is defined in accordance with US federal and state laws and OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) guidelines as mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids produced from animal fats or vegetable oils conforming to the ASTM D6751 specifications required for use of the fuel in diesel engines. Biofuels not meeting this standard may cause problems for engines and fuel systems and warranties will not be available from engine manufacturers. While the term biodiesel specifically refers to pure biodiesel, its blend with petroleum diesel is denoted as BXX where XX indicates the biodiesel content in terms of percentage in such blends. For example, by B30 is meant a blend of 30% biodiesel with 70% petroleum diesel. Both pure and blended biodiesel are used. However the most optimum blend has been found to be B20 as this combination is the most environment friendly (causing least pollution) with little increase in costs to the vehicle and other users. Biodiesel is used both as fuel and fuel additive and US Department of Energy and Department of Transportation have notified 100% or Neat biodiesel as an alternative fuel. The sales of biodiesel in USA as reported by the National Biodiesel Board have gone up from 500,000 gallons in 1999 to 250 million gallons in 2006.
