What Is Biodiesel?
Biodiesel is an alternative fuel similar to conventional or ‘fossil’ diesel. Biodiesel can be produced from straight vegetable oil, animal oil/fats, tallow, and waste cooking oil. The process used to convert these oils to Biodiesel is called transesterification. This process is described in more detail below. The largest possible source of suitable oil comes from oil crops such as rapeseed, palm, or soybean. In the UK rapeseed represents the greatest potential for biodiesel production.
Most biodiesel produced at present is produced from waste vegetable oil sourced from restaurants, chip shops, industrial food producers such as Birdseye, etc. Though oil straight from the agricultural industry represents the greatest potential source it is not being produced commercially simply because the raw oil is too expensive. Aer the cost of converng it to biodiesel has been added on it is simply too expensive to compete with fossil diesel. Waste vegetable oil can only be sourced for free or sourced already treated for a small price. (The waste oil must be treated before conversion to biodiesel to remove impurities). The result is Biodiesel produced from waste vegetable oil can compete with fossil diesel. More about the cost of biodiesel and how factors such as duty play an important role can be found here.
What are the benefits of Biodiesel?
Biodiesel has many environmentally beneficial properties. The main benefit of biodiesel is that it can be described as ‘carbon neutral’. This means that the fuel produces no net output of carbon in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2). This effect occurs because when the oil crop grows it absorbs the same amount of CO2 as is released when the fuel is combusted. In fact, this is not completely accurate as CO2 is released during the production of the fertilizer required to fertilize the fields in which the oil crops are grown. Fertilizer Production is not the only source of pollution associated with the production of biodiesel, other sources include the esterification process, the solvent extraction of the oil, refining, drying, and transporting. All these processes require an energy input either in the form of electricity or from a fuel, both of which will generally result in the release of greenhouse gases. To properly assess the impact of all these sources requires the use of a technique called life cycle analysis. Our second on LCA looks closer at this analysis. Biodiesel is rapidly biodegradable and completely non-toxic, meaning spillages represent far less of a risk than fossil diesel spillages. Biodiesel has a higher flash point than fossil diesel and so is safer in the event of a crash.
| Description | Diesel | Biodiesel | Utility Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Density | 820-830 | 850-900 | More weight per litter hence the higher average |
| Viscosity Smoothness | 2% | 6% | Three times more lubrication that sticks to the engine and increases engine life, reduces frictional friction, eliminates noise, less wear of the ring piston, smooth working and reduces vibration |
| Amount of Oxygen | 1/2 % | 10% | Combination with fuel is useful in burning the entire quantity of biodiesel and oxygen is the only aliment useful for burning |
| Carbon &Sulphur Content and Losses | Large amount in diesel contains carbon and sulphur, which increases pollution | Carbon Residue: - 0.05% Salfateash: - 0.02% | More weight per litter hence the higher average |
| Explosive Act & Protection | 50-60 Celsius Flash Point | 120-160 Celsius Flash Point | Highly secure |
| Benefits of GSTS | Not Available on diesel | GST available | 12% GST on biodiesel those who file GST as GST input can take. |
| Average Mileage | General | Up to 10-20% Higher | Very good economic benefit from being high on average |
