Biodiesel

Clear liquid, without unpleasant odor or handling characteristics, of virtually the same viscosity as mineral fossil diesel oil. For this reason, it may be used in a standard diesel engine without additional modifications. It may also be blended with petrodiesel to improve quality of latter.

Biodiesel is the only alternative fuel that runs in any conventional, unmodified diesel engine. It can be stored exactly like petroleum diesel. Biodiesel shows similar fuel consumption, horsepower, torque, and haulage rates as conventional diesel fuel.

Biodiesel can be used alone or mixed in any ratio with petroleum diesel. The use of biodiesel can extend the life of diesel engines because it is more lubricating than petroleum diesel fuel, while fuel consumption, auto ignition, power output, and engine torque are relatively unaffected. Lubricity results of biodiesel and petroleum diesel using industry test methods indicate that there is a marked improvement in lubricity when biodiesel is added to conventional diesel fuel. Even biodiesel levels below 1 percent can provide up to a 30 percent increase in lubricity.

Biodiesel is safe to handle and transport because it is as biodegradable as sugar (pure biodiesel degrades 85 to 88% in water within 28 days), 10 times less toxic than table salt (lethal dose is greater than 17.4 g/Kg body weight, while for salt (NaCL) it is 1.8 g/Kg), and has a high flashpoint of about 200°C compared to petroleum diesel fuel, which has a flash point of 70°C.

Combustion of biodiesel provides over a 75- 90% reduction in environmental pollution and a 90% reduction in cancer risks.

Biodiesel is the only alternative fuel to meet all environmental and human health requirements for energy sources.

Biodiesel is the only biofuel, which received approval from most car manufacturers; it is a proven fuel with over 20 years of use in Europe and 30 million successful US road miles.

Biodiesel has the highest energy yield in comparison to other fuels, including mineral diesel

Biodiesel is nontoxic and poses little or no health risk to humans. Vehicles that run on biodiesel emit less sulfur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter (soot), carbon-dioxide (CO2), with fewer heavy Hydrocarbons (HC) and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH). Biodiesel does not contain sulfur so it will not contribute to sulfur dioxide emissions that result in acid rain. Tests have shown that the cancer-causing potential of particulate matter from pure biodiesel is about 94% less than that of regular diesel.