BioDiesel
Biodiesel is an alternative fuel when compared to conventional oil based diesel.
A correctly processed biodiesel to International Standard EN14214 is an excellent clean burning fuel, promoting greatly reduced exhaust emissions on all levels except nitrogen oxides, which stay about the same, although some engines show a slight increase in nitrous oxide of up to 5% when compared to engines running on oil based diesel.
Capable from being produced from both domestic and commercial waste vegetable oils, as well as from renewable resources such as Oil Seed Rape, Wheat, soy and even peanuts, biodiesel looks set to be the diesel fuel of the future with its unique ability to be manufactured from carbon neutral recourses such as the above mentioned crops which remove carbon dioxide from the air as they grow and also the ability to be manufactured from waist cooking oils, so effectively recycling what would of previously been a waist product.
The biodiesel refinery process is called transesterification, in which the structure of the fatty oils is chemically altered whilst glycerine and water are removed. Read more about the manufacturing process of biodiesel here.
Biodiesel can be used in its pure form, which is called B100 (100% biodiesel), or can be blended in any proportion with conventional diesel fuel, in the UK you will find 5% biodiesel is premixed with regular diesel before we can buy it at the pump, so if you were wondering if you should try it in your diesel engine, the answer is you are most probably running on it now and have been for a year or so! The 5% biodiesel mixture at the pumps is part of guide lines set down by the Government to help archive its commitment dramatically reduce carbon emissions.
