Biodiesel: Alternative Fuel for the Future

Imagine heading to the gas station and filling your gas tank with something other than petroleum. Many people don’t even realize that there is a potential option. Biodiesel is a fuel that is both clean burning and produced with renewable resources. Biodiesel is also biodegradable. It can be described as a diesel fuel that is made from a source other than petroleum.

Biodiesel can be created with either animal fats or simple vegetable oil. This particular fuel option isn’t a new concept, the idea was first brought up in Brussels in 1937, but it is gaining popularity and will likely become the fuel of the future. With the increasing fuel prices and a pending energy crisis looming, something has to change when it comes to filling our gas tanks. Some gas stations are already offering biodisel but very few people understand exactly what biodiesel is and how it will benefit the United Sates population. The US Postal Service is already using biodiesel in its fleet.

A popular misconception about biodiesel is that all engines will have to be retrofitted or redesigned. Not true, Biodisel will work in any diesel engine. It can also be blended for use in vehicles without diesel engines. Another benefit, biodiesel can be produced with United States grown products. The United States will no longer have to rely on the Middle East for fuel and be dependent upon their resources. Our fuel prices and availability will not be contingent upon their government or politics. Using US grown products also gives the money back to the United States economy and not to the Middle Eastern governments. By producing this fuel on US soil, new jobs will be created, thus helping stimulate our economy. The farm industry will see tremendous growth as biodiesel will be using products grown on farms across our nation. Biodiesel is nontoxic and will be better for our already deteriorating air quality.

The biggest advantage of course to use bio-diesel is simply that it is cheaper to burn than standard diesel fuel. Even though most information shows that there may not be a general increase in power and actual miles per gallon may be a little less over regular diesel fuel, from a cost standpoint you will still be money ahead. Looking at it from the sense of miles per dollar versus mile per gallon, by acquiring the ingredients and making it yourself the average cost of a gallon of bio-diesel can be as low as 25 percent or even lower than the average cost of a gallon of regular diesel fuel. Simply put, for the same amount of money you could possibly go 4 times further on the same amount of bio-diesel gallon wise than with diesel.

Studies have shown that the emissions produced by cars using biodiesel are almost nonexistent. Unlike petroleum, our daily driving will not be polluting the air we breathe or contributing to the greenhouse effect. Biodiesel is considered a high octane fuel. This means that it will help car engines work more efficiently and thus provide the owner with a higher engine performance. A car’s engine will not be as loud and will last longer than if using petroleum based fuel. Currently, producing biodiesel is very expensive, but as the process is perfected and the idea becomes more popular with the public, prices should be lower. With the many benefits biodiesel offers to the car owners, the country and to our planet, biodiesel is certainly a very viable source of fuel for the future.