Have you ever thought of using vegetable oil to run your car? Many people have considered it as an alternative to high emissions and inflated gas prices but although these concepts are fairly new, the idea of using vegetable oil, or biodiesel energy, has been around for decades. Biodiesel energy is made from soybean oil and yellow grease, which is mainly comprised of oil leftover from restaurants that is then recycled and turned into usable oil.
Biodiesel fuel can be used on its own, or it can be combined with petroleum. Because it is often mixed with petroleum, biodiesel is often classified with a number. This number indicates how much petroleum has been mixed in with the biodiesel fuel. A B20 means that the mixture contains twenty percent of biodiesel fuel and B100 would indicate that the fuel is one hundred percent biodiesel fuel. Although it’s possible to use fuel that is purely biodiesel energy, it may cause problems with performance if the engine it is being used in is not modified for this high concentration. B99 can be found quite often as one percent of petroleum diesel fuel is often used to ensure that the mixture will not grow mold.
Although using biodiesel fuel in Europe has been very popular for some time now, its popularity is starting to grow in North America. Today it has been used in the United States with success since 1996. Trains have begun to use this alternative fuel and although the testing for airplanes is a little bit riskier, biodiesel has been found very safe and effective in airplanes and soon air craft carriers will be taking advantage of this fuel as well. Biodiesel fuel can also be used for domestic purposes in heating homes using a broiler. However, because there are rubber parts that can be deteriorated by biodiesel, especially in older furnaces, this is not always possible. The fuel can also leave a residue as it burns and this could quickly build and clog the pipes of the home.
A primary advantage of biodiesel energy is that it reduces carbon monoxide emissions into the environment by approximately fifty percent. The reason for this is because it takes advantage of carbon elements that are already in the air. Another benefit to biodiesel fuel is that it has a higher cetane rating and so cars that use biodiesel energy will start quicker and work more efficiently than cars that use regular diesel fuel. The greatest advantage however for biodiesel energy is that it is biodegradable and is a renewable energy resource – which is good for the environment. The good thing about biodiesel is that it comes from the soybean plant which can be grown in almost any country which means that no particular countries have a monopoly on the oil market.
