Biodiesel is not the same as vegetable oil, and vegetable oil cannot meet biodiesel fuel specifications or be used as a motor fuel. Biodiesel is the only alt fuel to have completed the health effects testing that is required of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. Biodiesel has lower emissions compared to petroleum diesel and biodegrades as fast as sugar.

Biodiesel is commonly blended with traditional diesel fuel. The most common biodiesel blends are B20, which is made up of 20-percent biodiesel and 80-percent petroleum diesel, and B2, which is 2-percent biodiesel and 98-percent petroleum diesel. Certified low-level biodiesel blends can be used in most traditional diesel vehicles without engine modification. The use of higher-level biodiesel blends tends to require engine modification.

Where to Find Biodiesel

Biodiesel is available at a national level. It can be purchased directly from biodiesel manufacturers and producers, petroleum distributors, or at several public pumps throughout the nation. Products can also be purchased on a variety of online resources to make your own biodiesel. Many biodiesel companies partner with local restaurants and food service establishments to collect their used cooking oil to convert into biodiesel.

Cost

The USDA has offered grants for the past few years for producing biodiesel through the Commodity Credit Corporation. The CCC payments effectively reduce the variable cost of additional soybean oil and yellow grease biodiesel. B100 or 100-percent biodiesel cost an average of 8.2 cents per mile, and gets 37 miles per gallon in the city and 45 miles per gallon on the highway.

B20 or a mixture of 80-percent petroleum-based diesel and 20-percent biodiesel cost 6.0 cents per mile, and gets 37 miles per gallon in the city; 45 miles per gallon on the highway.

Unleaded gasoline cost an average of 6.9 cents per mile, and gets 25 miles per gallon in the city; 31 miles per gallon on the highway. Conventional, petroleum-based diesel cost an average of 5.2 cents per mile, and gets 38 miles per gallon in the city and 46 miles per gallon on the highway.

Pollution

Diesel fuels can produce as much as 20 times more toxic particulates than gasoline. Diesels’ smog-forming nitrogen oxide emissions have 20 times greater the emissions of a comparable gasoline vehicle. Biodiesel can result in significant reductions in a number of air pollutants. Particulate matter dropped by almost half when using B100 and by 12 percent when using B20. CO2 dropped by almost 80 percent using B100 and hydrocarbons were reduced by nearly 70 percent using B100 and 21 percent using B20. Carbon monoxide decreased 48 percent with B100, 12 percent using B20.

Biodiesel is overall a cleaner, efficient fuel choice. Find a biodiesel station at biodiesel.org, or research a self-made biodiesel option to help preserve our environment.

Author Bio

This has been a guest blog post by Chelsea Wyles of the Cooler Planet Blog.

The Lotus Concept Ice Vehicle (pictured) was specifically designed for the Moon Regan TransAntarctic Expedition. The Lotus CIV will help researchers move from point A to B quickly and avoid crevasses in the ice along the way using specially designed radar. The vehicle will also call awareness to global warming issues and the importance of going green.

The Lotus Concept Ice Vehicle has a propeller on back and three skis to help it navigate the difficult Antarctic terrain. The biofuel engine is mounted directly behind the cockpit and attached to the tri-blade propeller.

Lotus has also announced a partnership with Jaguar to design a next generation single cylinder biofuel engine called the Omnivore. The two stroke engine will be developed for running bioalcohol as its main fuel source.

Direct fuel injection plus novel engine architecture will help the Omnivore produce the highest possible fuel efficiencies according to Lotus. Vehicle modeling software will be uses to analyze the reduction in CO2 emissions.

These higher chain alcohols such as isobutanol have distinct advantages over ethanol. Ethanol has lower energy density than gasoline so must be mixed with gasoline in order to bring up the octane level of the fuel. Ethanol also tends to be corrosive as it absorbs water from its surroundings.

Higher branch chain alcohols, however, do not readily absorb water and retain energy densities close to that of gasoline with similar octane numbers, so there will be no need to mix the two. UCLA has licensed the E. Coli biofuel technology to Gevo Incorporated of Pasadena, California who will develop a commercial version of this biofuel.

Since high gasoline prices are already giving many consumers a bellyache, turning to E. Coli for relief may seem counterintuitive, but it just may be what the doctor ordered.

Termites can mow down a massive amount of wood in a very short time and process it through their digestive tracks. Researchers are looking to synthesize the enzymes and accelerate the process to create fuels such as ethanol.

The process is becoming more clear as scientists are putting together the genome puzzle and creating a metabolic profile for the termite digestion process. In the rainforests of Costa Rica, researchers followed a gut feeling and found termites of the genus Nasutitermes that were particularly adept and chomping down trees quickly and effectively.

The upside of this kind of research is that corn (and its market fluctuations) will not be needed as the source for this process. Wood chips, switch grass and other waste plants can be used instead. Like all cutting-edge science, however, scaling up the process to mass produce biofuels will be a hurdle, but one that scientists are confident that they can overcome.

So, the next time you see termites chomping down your house, pause to think that these little creatures may one day help to fuel your car as well.