Why Biodiesel? Domestically produced (helps US farmers) Reduction in pollution It is a renewable resource Simple production process Works in existing infrastructure Today’s cars and trucks Today’s distribution system Today’s filling stations

Rudolph Diesel 1858 – Born in Paris 1879 – Graduated from Munich Polytechnic 1880 – Began work as a refrigeration engineer 1885-1895 – Designed several heat engines, working toward more efficiency than steam engines 1893 – Patented the “Diesel” engine – his first diesel engines ran on peanut oil – he hoped to enable “common folk,” not just “Oil and Coal Barons,” to produce fuel 1913 – Disappeared en route to England – his body was later found in English Channel – conspiracy theories abound

Diesel Engine Milestones By 1919, Clessie Cummins had obtained rights to manufacture diesel engines in the U.S. and made many improvements such as better fuel injection 1920s – The Oil Barons Strike Back – Introduced petroleum “diesel fuel” and encouraged engine modifications to use its lower viscosity characteristics (better cold weather performance) 1970s – Emergence of OPEC power – First oil crisis Sudden American interest in fuel efficiency created a major diesel engine market in the U.S. Today’s diesel engines are inherently 20% to 40% more fuel efficient than their gasoline counterparts (that’s why most trucks use them)

Biodiesel Problems Problem: Cold weather properties (viscosity, cloud point, gel point): Less tolerant of cold than petroleum diesel Solution: Use in combination with petroleum diesel, and/or use an anti-gel agent Problem: Solvent properties: Dissolves petroleum diesel residues & crud – can clog fuel filter of old engines until system is clean Solution: Change fuel filters frequently during transition Problem: Fuel line incompatibility in older cars Solution: Replace natural rubber with “Viton” synthetic parts Problem: Price: B100 sells for around $2-$4 per gallon Solution: Make your own or join a coop Problem: Accessibility: Harder to find that regular diesel Solution: Wait a bit - slowly improving

How safe is biodiesel? Biodiesel has completed the rigorous Health Effects testing requirements of the Clean Air Act. Results show that Biodiesel reduces carcinogenic air toxics by 75-90% compared to diesel. (source: http://www.distributiondrive.com/FAQ.html) Pure Biodiesel (B100) is nontoxic, biodegradable and essentially free of sulfur. Flash point – The temperature to which the fuel must be heated before it will ignite when exposed to a spark or flame. Petroleum Diesel = 60-80ºC Biodiesel = 100-170ºC Gasoline = -40ºC By comparison, Gasoline evaporates easily at room temp which leads to both an easier (unsafe) ignition *and* more air pollution from spills/leaks. More than 2 minutes to get it fully burning

Biodiesel & air pollution Findings of government study "Life Cycle Inventory of Biodiesel and Petroleum Diesel for Use in an Urban Bus": Lifecycle Emission: Biodiesel reduces net emissions of CO2 by 78.45% compared to petroleum diesel Total particulate matter reduced by 32%, Carbon monoxide reduced by 35% Sulfur oxides reduced 8% NOx increase by 13.35% over fuel lifecycle Tailpipe Emissions: Particulates less than 10 microns in size are 68% lower Carbon monoxide are 46% lower Sulfur oxides are completely eliminated NOx increase by 8.89% at tailpipe (source: http://www.nrel.gov/docs/legosti/fy98/24089.pdf)

Biodiesel & CO2 Emissions Model City/Highway MPG Life Cycle CO2 tons/year VW Jetta 2L Gasoline 23/30 7.4 VW Jetta TDI 1.9L PetroDiesel 32/43 5.8 VW Jetta TDI 1.9L B20 BioDiesel 4.9 VW Jetta TDI 1.9L B100 BioDiesel 1.3 2004 Toyota Prius 60/51 3.5 2004 Ford Explorer 4L 2WD 16/21 10.7 Life Cycle Comparison to gasoline and other fuels – Fleet CO2 emissions using: B100: 7 lbs/gallon B20: 23 lbs/gallon Diesel: 28 lbs/gallon Gasoline: 24 lbs/gallon source: http://travelmatters.org/calculator/transit/methodology Ethanol: 11 lbs/gallon Methanol: 19.6 lbs/gallon LPG: 13 lbs/gallon

Where does biodiesel come from? Like all life on earth, Biodiesel starts with photosynthesis Photosynthesis occurs in plant leaves, phytoplankton, and algae: Carbon Dioxide + Water + Sunlight >>> Glucose + Oxygen CO2 + H2O + Energy >>> C6H12O6 + O2 Photosynthesis is the same in all plants, but then… Each plant has its own recipes for converting glucose to other substances such as carbohydrates, proteins, & fats (oils) Biodiesel is all in the fat! Petroleum also (it’s just Jurassic fat!) Some plants produce lots of fat – For example: olives, avocados, walnuts, soybeans, peanuts, corn and canola

Where Does Biodiesel Go? All fuels and foods are consumed in Combustion or Metabolism (the reverse of photosynthesis) Carbon-based Fuel + Oxygen >>> Carbon Dioxide + Water + Heat e.g. CH4 + O2 >>> CO2 + H2O + Energy Using Fossil fuels releases carbon that was sequestered millions of years ago In contrast, the Biodiesel life cycle releases carbon that was sequestered during recent months (it’s a renewable fuel)

Organic Chemistry 101 (The chemistry of carbon) Water (point of reference) Methanol (Methyl Alcohol) Ethanol (Ethyl Alcohol) Isopropyl Alcohol Glycerol (Glycerin ) In Biodiesel, Methanol/Ethanol and Glycerol are very important

Organic Chemistry 101 Most fat is triglycerides: Triesters of fatty acids and glycerol Esters & Free Fatty Acids Saturated, Monounsaturated, and Polyunsaturated fats Esterification - converting Free Fatty Acids to Esters Transesterification – transferring the esters from glycerin to methanol or ethanol Methyl Esters (most Biodiesel) Ethyl Esters

Copyright 2006 Brevard Biodiesel

Composition of soy oil & soy esters 8% with 16 carbon atoms (aka "Palmitic Acid") 3% with 18 carbon atoms (aka "Stearic Acid") 25% with 18 carbon atoms and 1 double bond (aka "Oleic Acid") 55% with 18 carbon atoms and 2 double bonds (aka "Linoleic Acid") 8% with 18 carbon atoms and 3 double bonds (aka "Linolenic Acid") Most vegetable oils contain Omega-6 fatty acids (first double bond between 6th & 7th carbon atom from the end Fish oils and Flax seed contain Omega-3 fatty acids

Biodiesel Acronyms SVO – Straight Vegetable Oil You can burn straight vegetable oil in many diesel engines Must heat it to about 150º before injecting into combustion chamber WVO – Waste Vegetable Oil (SVO that you get from a dumpster) Soy Esters – Biodiesel made from Soybeans Rapeseed Esters – Biodiesel made from Rapeseed Due to its high cost and limited availability, biodiesel fuel is often sold in mixtures with petroleum diesel (affectionately known as “Dinodiesel”) B100 = 100% Biodiesel B20 = 20% Biodiesel mixed with 80% Dinodiesel B2 = 2% Biodiesel mixed with 98% Dinodiesel (just to improve lubricity) Biodiesel’s lubricity is far better than petroleum diesel, especially compared with low-sulfur petroleum diesel that will be mandated in the U.S. beginning in 2006. Its use can extend the lives of diesel engines

How Much Biodiesel Do We Need? Each year in the U.S., transportation consumes: 60 billion gallons of petroleum diesel 120 billion gallons of gasoline About 75% is used by trucking/transportation The remainder is used for heating oil, railroads, construction, and other things Estimates indicate that there is enough waste vegetable oil to replace about 5% of the diesel fuel consumed in the U.S. Available agricultural land might increase this to 15% That’s still not much fuel when you consider that diesel consumption is just a fraction of gasoline consumption So we need to explore algae production (A UNH estimate shows that as little as 10 million acres of algae could produce enough fuel for all U.S. transportation needs (Brevard County is almost 1 million acres) Another potential technology: Waste-to-Oil (as reported in Discover Magazine, July 2004)

Biodiesel Links www.brevardbiodiesel.org www.biodieselnow.com www.journeytoforever.org www.tdiclub.com www.biodiesel.org http://www.discover.com/issues/jul-04/features/anything-into-oil/ http://www.changingworldtech.com/