BIODIESEL

Biodiesel (fatty acid alkyl esters) is a domestically produced, renewable fuel that can be manufactured from vegetable oils, recycled restaurant greases and biomass production and is safe and biodegradable. Using biodiesel in a conventional diesel engine substantially reduces emissions of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, sulphates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and particulate matter.

The use of biodiesel decreases the solid carbon fraction of particulate matter (since the oxygen in biodiesel enables more complete combustion to CO₂) and reduces the sulphate fraction (biodiesel contains less than 24 ppm sulphur), while the soluble, or hydrocarbon, fraction stays the same or increases. Therefore, biodiesel works well with new technologies such as catalysts (which reduce the soluble fraction of diesel particulate but not the solid carbon fraction), particulate traps, and exhaust gas recirculation.

Biodiesel has physical properties very similar to conventional diesel. Emission properties, however, are better for biodiesel than for conventional diesel.

Biodiesel fuel can be made from new or used vegetable oils and animal fats, which are non-toxic, biodegradable, renewable resources. Fats and oils are chemically reacted with an alcohol (methanol is the usual choice) to produce chemical compounds known as fatty acid methyl esters. Biodiesel is the name given to these esters when they're intended for use as fuel. Glycerol (used in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, among other markets) is produced as a co-product.