Biodiesel and Its Impact on the Environment

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Biodiesel has been getting its share of interest among people in the search for alternative fuels. The cost of oils has been steadily going up in the worldwide market and many think it is time to find alternative sources to tone down in some way the rising costs of using gas and other petroleum-derived fuels. One of the alternatives found to have promise is the production of biodiesel.

Biodiesel refers to a type of processed fuel that can be derived from biological sources. It can be readily used in diesel engine vehicles. This distinguishes it from the use of straight vegetable oils (SVO) or waste vegetable oils (WVO) as the chosen alternative which requires vehicles to have modified diesel engines installed in order to make use of such fuels.

What makes biodiesel also an ideal alternative? Below is the list of its benefits.

1. Biodegradable and non-toxic, which makes it a more environmentally friendly alternative.
2. Provides considerably fewer combustion emissions when compared to petroleum-based diesel fuel.
3. Since biodiesel can readily be used in current diesel engines without having to modify them, it has the potential to supplement the use of petroleum-based fuels as a primary energy source to fill up the need of the world’s transportation sector.
4. Biodiesel also holds the promise of being used as a cheaper alternative heating fuel for domestic and commercial boilers.
5. High lubricity index. Higher than that of pure petrodiesel, this excellent lubricating property of biodiesel can greatly contribute to lengthening the life of an engine’s fuel injector.
6. Biodiesel is also a better solvent than conventional diesel and has been shown to break down residue deposits in fuel lines that have previously been using conventional diesel products. That’s why fuel filters becoming clogged with residue particles as the biodiesel does its work of cleaning the engine has become so common. A change of filter after running 600-800 miles on biodiesel is recommended to solve this problem.
7. Biodiesel use results in a significantly reduced emission of carbon monoxide. Biodiesel also contains fewer hydrocarbons and can reduce tailpipe particle emissions by as much as 20 percent.
8. Biodiesel also has low sulfur content without compromising its natural viscosity and lubricating properties which is usually the case when using ultra-low sulfur petrodiesel varieties.

It is being suggested by many biodiesel advocates that excess or waste vegetable oil can be the best source of oil to produce this alternative fuel. But the current available supply is unfortunately lesser than the amount of petroleum-based fuel that is burned for transportation and home heating all over the world. Gallons upon gallons of waste vegetable oil are produced by US restaurants every day.

But this may not be enough to satisfy the need for more and more fuel. Producing biodiesel from animal fats may not be feasible enough to replace petrodiesel just yet because of its limited supply. However, research is underway to find ways and to develop systems which could make biodiesel more available and help answer the growing needs of alternative fuel.

*This article is originally written by Matt O’Connor, an expert author from Ezine Articles.

Source: Ezine Articles
Greenerlifes Magz edited some paragraph into number list in order to make our readers easy to list the benefits of biodiesel.