Biodiesel is a fuel for running in diesel vehicles and in home oil-burner furnaces that can be sustainably grown in the field with seed crops. It can also be produced from animal fats left over from the rendering process.

Biodiesel has many benefits over fossil diesel. The more we learn of these benefits and hear of problems stemming from global warming, the more the idea of burning million year old dinosaurs seems very backwards solution when we can be growing our own fuel.

The US consumes 125 Billion gallons of gasoline and 60 Billion gallons of diesel fuel annually.

US biodiesel production in 1997 was 1 million gallons, In 2003 it was 25 million gallons, In 2006 it was 250 million gallons, In 2007 estimated to be over 1 Billion gallons.

USA restaurants dispose of 3 Billion gallons of used fryer vegetable oil a year. Or about 5% of our annual diesel fuel needs.

By utilizing fallow cropland and used cooking oil the US could displace 15% annual fossil diesel use.

The meat industry from processing Beef, poultry and fish dispose of another 1 Billion gallons of animal fat a year. Renders pick up these wastes to process them into animal feeds, pet food, soaps, cosmetics, some biodiesel and other commodities.

To drill for, pump, ship, refine, and ship again 1 gallon of fossil diesel or gasoline it takes an additional 1.2 gallons of fuel, just to get it to the pump. This does not also include the fuel and other resources we are using these days to maintain a military to assure this fossil fuel supply.

To produce 1 gallon of biodiesel from most seed crops and process it on to the gas pump takes on average one third of a gallon of fuel. That is from planting the seeds to pumping the fuel into the car.

The sun with the wondrous process of photosynthesis does most of the work. This is the process where a plant pulls carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere removes the carbon to build plant cellulose than exhales oxygen. This happens because of the sun and the plant’s chlorophyll.

For every kilogram of carbon that is released from the tailpipe of a vehicle engine running on biodiesel, 2-3 kilograms of carbon are consumed from the atmosphere by plant cellulose growth to produce that gram of biodiesel.

Biodiesel is easier on wear and tear to an engine. It has no sulfur unlike fossil diesel. Sulfur in fossil diesel partially turns to sulfuric acid in the hot engine crankcase and causes corrosion of internal engine parts. Biodiesel is more lubricating to the engines injection pump, injectors, and valve seats. This quality creates a quieter and smoother running diesel engine with less wear and slightly more power.

The burnt sulfur from fossil diesel leaves the vehicle tail pipe as sulfur dioxide to become acid rain and further damage the environment. US diesel has 500ppm sulfur vs. European ultra-low sulfur diesel 15-20ppm. In October of 2006 the oil companies are mandated to clean up sulfur to ultra low. It is now used some in southern California and in various fleets.

Toxic tailpipe emissions decrease from 65% to over 90% when switching from 100% fossil diesel to 100% biodiesel.

Safety concerns are simplified with news that biodiesel is not even considered a flammable so it is safer to handle in that respect. The flash point for biodiesel is about 270-300F degrees verse 125F for fossil diesel.

Biodiesel is a more de-centralized vehicle energy source that can be supplied by farmers and other resourceful people instead of shameless multinational oil companies. This advantage will lead us to a more stable fuel source with realistic pricing and a stop to subsidizing oil companies with our military. Currently biodiesel costs less at the pump than fossil diesel in Germany.

Biodiesel production on the farm will also bring about other valuable by-products like potash and other natural soil fumigants and fertilizers to rebuild our sick farmlands. In addition biodiesel production produces a crude glycerin that can be used simply as a soap product or can be further refined into a valued technical grade glycerin.

Biodiesel has many other uses that are still being discovered like; low toxic wood floor finishes, cleaning solvents and lubricants for 2 and 4 stroke engines as well as biodegradable total loss oils for outboard motors and chain saws.

Biodiesel has a couple disadvantages that need to be stated also. Tailpipe emissions from burning biodiesel will drop across the board on everything but NOx (Nitrous Oxide). Burning oxygen under compression creates NOx. Diesel compression-ignition engines burn oxygen and they have extra oxygen when burning biodiesel, rich with oxygen atoms. The increased oxygen also makes the fuel burn more thoroughly causing overall much cleaner emissions. Biodiesel has a cetane number that is about 55, much higher than standard fossil diesels cetane number of about 47. The cetane number is a rating on the fuels ability to burn and is often compared to the octane number for gasoline.

In Europe ultra low sulfur fuel is the norm and new diesels run as clean as new unleaded gas cars because it is possible to install a catalytic converter on exhaust systems. High sulfur diesel will plug up these catalytic converters. A low cost way to lower NOx is to lower combustion temperature by retarding injection pump timing 1-3 degrees.

The one other disadvantage of biodiesel is winter gelling. Most biodiesel will start gelling at about 30F degrees. Remedies include anti-gelling agents, or produce biodiesel from coconut oil (shorter ester chains), or use some fossil diesel or Kerosene (#1 Diesel) to lower the gel point of the fuel.

In 1895 Rudolph Diesel was hired by the German Mining industry to build an engine. His engine was designed to run on coal dust from the coalmines. A diesel engine is a finely built piece of machinery made of steel with machined iron parts. Course coal dust is not something one would want to push through such a thing. Mr. Diesel ran his engine on peanut oil when it was exhibited at the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris. Fossil fuels came along later.

In producing biodiesel from Vegetable oil (triglycerides) the easiest method is the one-step transesterification reaction using bases (KOH or NaOH) and either methanol or ethanol alcohol. The catalyst and the alcohol react with the Triglycerides (very large molecule) breaking off into esters and the glycerol drops out as a byproduct. The crude biodiesel is than subjected to washing, polishing, drying and filtering to complete its transformation to being ASTM grade biodiesel.

Another method for making biodiesel includes saltwater algae grown in saline rich, very warm saltwater ponds located in the desert. A 1000sq-meter pond could produce 200 gallons a year or 4 times what a comparable sized canola plot could produce. There has also been some recent and encouraging breakthroughs on running the carbon dioxide rich exhaust from large coal fired power plants through alge ponds. The alge efficiently converts the carbon dioxide into triglyceride oils while also reducing the global warming carbon dioxide spewing from the coal plant.

Lipease enzymes are another way to produce biodiesel but they are very specific to certain oil types. This would make it hard with waste vegetable oil and its widely variable oil source. Also of concern is these are genetically modified organisms (GMO) and might lead to other larger problems down the road. Using a GMO plant to produce a fuel seed also makes some people very nervous. A crop grown for fuel only will not be regulated because it is not considered a food crop. The problem will start when these seeds get planted two fields down from a similar food crop where it might cause potential cross-pollination problems.

Biodiesel could prove to be an equalizer for 3rd world economies with lots of land mass, sun, and rain yet highly dependant on imported oil. Investing in biodiesel production will give many countries the means to keep more of their money in the country by offsetting their energy costs and getting ahead with a sustainable economy.