Biodiesel

Biodiesel is an alternative to petroleum-based diesel fuel made from renewable resources such as vegetable oils or animal fats. Chemically, it comprises a mix of mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids. A lipid transesterification production process is used to convert the base oil to the desired esters and remove free fatty acids. After this processing, unlike straight vegetable oil, biodiesel has combustion properties very similar to those of petroleum diesel, and can replace it in most current uses. However, it is at present most often used as an additive to petroleum diesel, improving the otherwise low lubricity of pure ultra low sulfur petrodiesel fuel. It is one of the possible candidates to replace fossil fuels as the world's primary transport energy source, because it is a renewable fuel that can replace petrodiesel in current engines and can be transported and sold using today's infrastructure. Biodiesel use and production is increasing rapidly, especially in Europe, the United States, and Asia, though in all markets it still makes up a small percentage of fuel sold. A growing number of fuel stations are making biodiesel available to consumers, and a growing number of large transport fleets use some proportion of biodiesel in their fuel.

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Biodiesel, with a flash point of 150 °C, is not as readily ignited as petroleum diesel (64 °C) and far less so than the explosively combustible gasoline (-45 °C). Indeed, it is classified as a non-flammable liquid by the OSHA, although it will of course burn if heated to a high enough temperature. This property makes a vehicle fueled by pure biodiesel far safer in an accident.

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Biodiesel gels at higher temperatures than petroleum diesel, depending on the profile and properties of the feedstock used. Precautions should be taken in very cold climates, where biodiesel fuel may gel due to low temperatures.

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Unlike petrodiesel, biodiesel is biodegradable and non-toxic, and it significantly reduces toxic and other emissions when burned as a fuel. The most common form uses methanol to produce methyl esters, though ethanol can be used to produce an ethyl ester biodiesel. A byproduct of the transesterification process is the production of glycerol.

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Biodiesel is sometimes more expensive to produce than petroleum diesel, which is often stated as the primary factor keeping it from being in more widespread usage. Economies of scale in biodiesel production, however, as well as the rising cost of petroleum, may reduce, eliminate, or even reverse this cost differential in the future. Current worldwide production of vegetable oil and animal fat, however, is not enough to replace liquid fossil fuel use. Some environmental groups, notably the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), object to the vast amount of farming and the resulting over-fertilization, pesticide use, and land use conversion that would be needed to produce the additional vegetable oil.

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Petroleum: Petroleum (from Greek petra – rock and oleum – oil), crude oil, sometimes colloquially called black gold, is a thick, dark brown or greenish liquid. A widely believed myth is that the oil itself is flammable, however it is actually the gas that evaporates from the oil that is flammable. ...

Diesel: :This article is about the fuel. For other uses see diesel (disambiguation) or Vin Diesel...

Renewable: REDIRECT Renewable resource...