By Terry HILL
Biodiesel is a clean burning alternative fuel made from raw vegetable oil and animal fats. It is made from natural products, but must go through a chemical process to develop into a usable fuel source. This alternative fuel can be produced locally, it is renewable, and is simple to make and to use. Biodiesel has many environmental benefits such as its biodegradable, nontoxic, produces low emissions, and is essentially free of aromas. The liquid ranges in color form golden to dark brown.
Natural resources make up the ingredients of biodiesel. The two most widely used oil products used to produce biodiesel are soy beans, which make up 90% of the oil producing plants used, and rapeseed. Other common oil feedstock used are field pennygrass, mustard, flax, sunflower, canola, palm oil, and hemp. Animal fats are also used to develop biodiesel. These fat products come from tallow (a harder fat found in livestock), lard, yellow grease, and chicken fat.
The production of biodiesel is essentially a simple process. Fat from vegetable oils, animal fat, or waste cooking oil is added to methanol (a type of alcohol) along with a catalyst such as an acid or base to set off the chemical reaction. During the chemical process of transertification methanol attaches itself to the fatty acid chain of vegetable oil. The interaction between the fatty acid chain and the alcohol causes a break down of vegetable oil into glycerin and biodiesel.
While biodiesal is only recently moving into the “mainstream”, research and efforts to put the alternative fuel into use have been going on for many years. Beginning in 1853, two scientists, E. Duffy and J. Patrick performed transestertification of a vegetable oil. On August 10, 1893 Rudolf Diesel invented a prime diesel model engine, which has recently led to the declaration of International Biodiesel Day. During the 1920s the production of biodiesel came to a halt due to the inexpensive cost of petroleum. The first patent on the production process of biodiesal became effective August 31, 1937 and was granted to G. Chavanne of the University of Brussels in Belgium. The second patent was granted to Brazilian scientist Expedito Parente in 1977. By 1979 South Africa began research of biodiesel using sunflower oil and biodiesel is now being used and researched on a global scale. During the 1990s many European countries opened biodiesel plants. In 1998 the Austrian Biofuels Institute identified 21 countries with commercial biodiesel projects. After more than one hundred years from the time the production of biodiesel was first being tested Minnesota became the first U.S. state to mandate that all diesel fuel sold in the state must contain biodiesel (at least 2%).
Like
all other environmental issues the use of biodiesal has benefits for the
environment as well as causes concerns about the environment. Biodiesel causes less stress to the
environment because it is biodegradable, it reduces air pollutants such as
tailpipe particles, it contains few aromatic hydrocarbons, and it decreases the United State’s
dependence on foreign oil while contributing to the U.S. economy. The biggest environmental concern with the
use of biodiesel is that the oil producing plantations lead to
deforestation. Many tropical forests
around the globe are suffering due to these oil producing plantations which
result in a loss of habitat for many animals.
Another problem is that food-yielding crops must be replaced by non-food
yielding crops, which is always a risky decision. Last, but certainly not least in the
environmental controversies over the production of biodiesel, is the issue of
nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions that lead to the formation of ground-level
ozone. All of these issues, whether for
or against the production of biodiesel, have contributed to the many reasons
biodiesel has become a global issue and why it has taken so long to become a
consideration for fuel around the globe.
Texas is home to several biodiesel corporations and organizations that advocate the use of biodfuels. There are several cities in the state that provide biodiesel for sale including Houston which has a couple of biodiesal filling stations. In the city ofOak Ridge North, Texas a biodiesel generated power generated facility is now producing and selling energy into the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) Power Grid. It is the first power plant in the country to run entirely on biodiesel.
In the United States biodiesel is the only fuel to have successfully completed the Health Effects Testing requirements of the Clean Air Act of 1990. The US EPA currently estimates that the use of biodiesel represents a 67% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in comparison with petroleum based fuels. As the biodiesel industry continues to grow so will the controversial issues that must come with every decision that affects humanity on a global scale.
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