Sustainable Biodiesel

Do you feel that sustainable energy is a goal with merit?

How does biodiesel rate as an energy sources with regard to green house gas emissions and air pollution?

Biodiesel reduces the use of non-renewable energy sources like fossil fuels and nuclear energy. It is an environmentally friendly alternative source of energy.

Current fuel prices at the pump are relatively low. Many are now complacent but we know this situation won’t last. The world supply of petroleum is diminishing and we have long passed peak oil in the US and may have reached world peak oil. Biodiesel can be a major factor toward achieving energy independence. Diesel engines are 40% more efficient then gas engines and when running on biodiesel, pollution and green house gases are reduced.

Biodiesel is diesel fuel made from vegetable oil instead of petroleum. Biodiesel can be blended with petro-diesel fuel in any proportion and can be used in most diesel powered trucks, cars, and other diesel powered equipment without modification. It has been a fuel for trucks, jet engines and diesel powered cars such as Volkswagen and Mercedes for many years. Biodiesel is typically shown in terms of the B number or the proportion of biodiesel in blended fuel where B100 is pure biodiesel. Biodiesel can be purchased retail in Virginia as B20 in Richmond and elsewhere and as B100 in Reedville. There are also many more filling sites in Maryland and North Carolina with either B100 or blended biodiesel at the pump.

With proper attention to safety, biodiesel can be made easily by an individual or small business for $1.00 or less per gallon. There are processor kits available to make the production of biodiesel easy and safe. Biodiesel production is a chemical conversion process by adding alcohol and a catalyst  (lye or caustic potash) to the vegetable oil feedstock During this process, the triglycerides or fatty acids in the oil are converted into biodiesel and the resulting biodiesel is chemically known as fatty acid methyl esters (FAME). It doesn’t require a great deal of energy to make biodiesel. There is no distillation required. Although the oil is generally pre-heated, it is only to make it flow better and react quicker so the amount of heat and energy required by the process is minimal. A byproduct of the process is glycerin, which can be used to make home-made soap or can be used as a fertilizer.

Biodiesel is a sustainable energy source when it is made from waste vegetable oil such as used restaurant fryer oil (WVO) or from some virgin oil sources that are grown in a sustainable fashion.  It can even be made from coffee grounds. When made from WVO, it is an effective way to utilize waste which would otherwise be discarded. When made from virgin oil such as rapeseed (Canola,) it can still be sustainable, particularly when grown with efficient agricultural methods and used as a cover crop in fields that would otherwise be fallow.

The Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance (SBA) promotes and publishes standards and practices for sustainability. Sustainable biodiesel is not grown with agrochemicals, but by methods intended to preserve soil quality and reduce erosion. Production of biodiesel is more than 3 times more efficient than the production of petroleum-based diesel fuel according to the SBA. While the energy balance of petro-diesel production is 0.8, the energy balance of biodiesel is 3.2. Also, sustainable biodiesel is produced and used locally. See http://sustainablebiodieselalliance.com for more information.

Biodiesel does not compete with food and has little impact on food prices, especially when produced according to the sustainable standards of SBA. Currently, the highest yield practical oil seed crop is canola or rapeseed. Unlike corn, rapeseed is a winter crop and can be rotated with food producing crops. Agricultural equipment and tractors can be fueled by biodiesel reducing the amount of fossil fuel consumed by the farmer. Because biodiesel is simple to make it can be made close to the feedstock source reducing the amount of energy needed to transport the fuel. Seed crushers to extract the oil are relatively inexpensive and biodiesel processors can be used locally to make fuel right on the farm.

Using Biodiesel can actually reduce carbon. According to some studies, about 80 cents of each retail dollar spent on fuel goes to energy, processing packaging and distribution, all of which are intensive users of petro-energy. These costs can actually be reduced by local consumption of food, reducing food miles and using alternative energy such as biodiesel to power equipment in the production and and distribution of food.

Biodiesel lowers green house gas emission and pollutants. The major pollutants from fossil-based diesel fuel are particulate emissions, oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and green house gasses (GHG). Although the specific energy content in biodiesel is lower, biodiesel burns more efficiently than conventional diesel fuel. By burning biodiesel, the Nox emissions are nearly eliminated, the particulate emissions are lowered and green house gasses are reduced.

Neely Green Solutions provides processors, equipment and supplies to make biodiesel and provides workshops where participants learn how to make their own biodiesel.