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Biodiesel
Overview
Sustainable Biodiesel?
What’s Happening in BC?
What Does it Cost?
Technical Matters
Home Brewed
Resources
All liquid biofuels are very controversial, and most can
be sustainably produced under some conditions and be disastrous
under others.
 Overview
Biodiesel is a renewable fuel that can be easily used in
unmodified diesel engines in equipment including bus and truck
fleets, heavy equipment, and diesel cars and boats.
Pure biodiesel (B100) is a very clean burning, non-toxic
fuel. Biodiesel can also be blended with any percentage of
petro-diesel to meet a variety of purposes. A B20 (20% B100
biodiesel + 80% petro-diesel) blend is the most commonly used
in North America, as it does not require any operational changes.
Biodiesel reduces air toxins, particulate matter, carbon
monoxide, and sulphur dioxide which causes acid rain. Vehicle
performance, storage, and maintenance requirements are all
comparable to petro-diesel except in very cold conditions.
Biodiesel is not the same as running a car on straight vegetable
oil (SVO). Please follow this link
to learn more about SVO.
Sustainable Biodiesel?
Almost everyone agrees on the benefits of utilizing waste
oils that would otherwise be thrown away. Biodiesel can be
made from used cooking oils, and even oils recovered from
sewer grease traps. However, waste oils can only provide a
tiny fraction of the diesel oil now burned. It is biodiesel
from crops such as oil palm, canola and Soya beans that is
the most controversial. In the future, biodiesel might be
made from algae or other sources but the feasibility of large
scale production has not been proven.
The European Union's decision to increase the import of biodiesel
and other liquid biofuels, supposedly to reduce GHG emissions,
has set off a storm of controversy. One of the most often
cited problems is that clearing and burning forests to grow
oil crops can produce as much as ten times as much GHG emissions
per liter of fuel as conventional oil. The other environmental
effects of deforestation are also very substantial.
There are also very serious human rights concerns over the
forced displacement of small farmers in countries such as
Columbia by government-supported biofuel corporations.
Presently there are no Canadian laws restricting the importation
of biofuels from non-sustainable sources; and such laws might
face challenges under the North American Free Trade Agreement
or World Trade Organization regulations.
In North America, the two main crops that are used to produce
biodiesel are soybeans (US) and canola (Canada). The oil is
extracted from the soybean and the canola seed, which is then
processed into biodiesel. Soybeans are grown both for their
protein and oil. Both canola and soy oils are used as food
for humans and animals, so there is controversy over the potential
for wealthy car drivers in places such as Canada to drive
the price of food up out of reach of low-income consumers
globally. However, increased prices could benefit farmers
in some areas, and could even lead to a reversal of the global
exodus from farms to cities.
 What's
Happening in BC
In the 2007 federal budget, Canada committed to a 2% renewable
fuel standard for diesel fuel and heating oil. This will create
a market for ~650 million litres of biodiesel per year. The
budget also announced $2 billion for renewable fuel production
incentives.
In the 2004 budget, the Province of British Columbia amended
the Alternative Motor Fuel Tax Act, allowing the biodiesel
portion of a biodiesel blend to be exempt from the provincial
motor fuel tax.
Although biodiesel is not yet being manufactured commercially
in BC, we have one of the largest markets for biodiesel in
the Country.
What Does it Cost?
In the past the biodiesel industry's lack of growth on a
global scale was mainly attributed to the low cost of petroleum
diesel and the high cost of vegetable based oils. The cost
of these 'feedstocks' can be up to 70% of the manufacturing
costs of biodiesel. For this reason, biodiesel has tended
to be more expensive than petro-diesel, sometimes as much
as double. With the recent increase in petroleum prices over
the past few years, combined with tax incentives and production
incentives, biodiesel is now being sold at the same price
as diesel in many regions, and in some cases at a discount
to diesel.
Technical Matters
Vegetable oil is too viscous to be run in a modern diesel
engine without pre-heating. The fundamental purpose for turning
vegetable oil into biodiesel is to reduce its viscosity making
it comparable to diesel fuel. This is done by removing the
glycerol from the vegetable oil and replacing it with methanol
(occasionally ethanol). The finished product must meet the
ASTM
D6751 standard for biodiesel before being sold commercially.
Biodiesel process technology is well proven; the processing
technology used to make biodiesel has been around for over
100 years. Current technology has just improved upon efficiencies
of scale and operation.
Home Brewed
To make use of waste oils, and since biodiesel availability
is limited in many areas of BC, some people are choosing to
make it themselves in small batches at home. There are many
online resources available to help you. (See the links below.)
A word of caution, however: "homebrew" biodiesel
rarely meets any of the biodiesel standards that have been
developed, and by using it; you run the risk of voiding your
vehicle warranty. Homebrew biodiesel is for personal use only
and cannot be sold commercially as biodiesel.
Resources
Suppliers:
Victoria
Information:
Articles:
- National
Express quits biofuel experiment: One of Britain's
leading transport groups has cast doubt over the green
credentials of biofuels after pulling out of a trial amid
fears that it was doing more harm than good to the environment.
- Food
vs. Fuel - Business Week Magazine
As energy demands devour crops once meant for sustenance,
the economics of agriculture are being rewritten.
- Biofuel
gangs kill for green profits. Tony Allen-Mills. The
Sunday Times UK, June 3, 2007.
- A
Lethal Solution: We need a five-year freeze on biofuels,
before they wreck the planet. By George Monbiot. The
Guardian, 27th March 2007.
- Food
or Fuel - Journey to Forever
A common objection to biomass energy production is that
it could divert agricultural production away from food
crops in a hungry world -- even leading to mass starvation
in the poor countries. True or not?
Credits
Written by Eric Doherty for the BC Sustainable Energy Association.
Updated February 22, 2008
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