What it is
Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel manufactured from
vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled restaurant greases. It is safe, biodegradable, and produces less air pollutants than petroleum-based diesel. Although it can be used in its pure form (B100), it is typically found blended with petroleum diesel in B2, B5, and B20 blends, representing 2, 5, and 20% biodiesel, respectfully. Biodiesel is made up of
fatty acid alkyl esters, fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), or long-chain mono alkyl esters.
Biodiesel vs. Straight Vegetable Oil
It may be easy to confuse biodiesel and straight vegetable oil (SVO) because they both use vegetable oils as an energy source, however there is a major difference that is important to keep in mind. Using raw vegetable oil in a regular diesel engine will cause a number of
long-term problems that can greatly reduce engine life. There is definitely a
place for SVO, despite the fact that it is less tested and less widely accepted as an alternative fuel. SVO involves taking untreated raw oil, or filtered, deacidified, dehydrated waste vegetable oil and using it directly as a fuel in an altered diesel engine. While the engine must be retrofitted to accept this fuel, resulting in a large initial cost, it may in the long run be cheaper than biodiesel, especially if waste vegetable oil is used, as it can generally be found for very little, if any, money. It is unlikely that SVO will grow to anything more than a niche market, but it is a viable alternative to biodiesel for a small percentage of American consumers.
Production
The US biodiesel industry is rapidly growing, with much of the focus being from companies that already making products from vegetable oil or animal fat. More than half of the biodiesel industry can use any fat or oil feedstock, including recycled cooking grease. The other half is limited to vegetable oils, often soy oil. There is enough soy oil, recycled restaurant grease, and other feedstocks to replace
5% of the diesel used in the US, which would be about 1.7 billion gallons per year. The potential limiting factor is the saturdation of the market for glycerin, biodiesel's coproduct. The most common form of biodiesel in the US is in a B20 blend. B20 has the advantage of performing well at cold temperatures and being capable of being stored and distributed similar to diesel, whereas B100 distribution by pipeline is
still in experimental stages Below are biodiesel
sales volume estimates for the US: - 2006 -- 250 million gallons
- 2005 -- 75 million gallons
- 2004 -- 25 million gallons
- 2003 -- 20 million gallons
- 2002 -- 15 million gallons
- 2001 -- 5 million gallons
- 2000 -- 2 million gallons
- 1999 -- 500,000 gallons
Currently, the largest market is for fleet vehicles, with the National Biodisel Board reporting that there are over 100 such fleets using biodiesel in the US.