Biodiesel: All It’s Cracked Up to Be?

Posted in Secrets To Fuel Savings by Brian ·  

Thankfully diesel prices have come down in recent months, but there’s no reason to believe they will stay down indefinitely. In fact, it’s almost guaranteed that the prices will increase. To combat the high cost of diesel fuel, many people are pushing biodiesel instead. But is it all it’s cracked up to be?

One of the great selling points for biodiesel is that it is a renewable energy source, unlike petroleum. Once petroleum reserves are gone, it will take too many years to think about in order for more to be created by natural means. In comes biodiesel, which is comprised mainly of used oils from restaurants.

Used vegetable oil, most often used for frying foods like French fries or fried fish, is passed through a process called transesterification. This creates glycerin, which can be used to make soap, and diesel fuel which can be used to run vehicles. This fuel can be used alone or combined with traditional diesel fuel to reduce the call for petroleum-based fuels.

Besides helping to stretch current petroleum fuel reserves (usually it is used in a 20% mixture of biodiesel with 80% petroleum), biodiesel doesn’t release aromatics or sulfur into the atmosphere. It also greatly cuts down on the carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and particulate emissions of any vehicle using it.

Biodiesel also has a higher flash point which means that it is much less combustible than diesel or gasoline fuels. In fact, according to OSHA, it is classified as a non-flammable liquid which means that it is much safer in case the vehicle running it has an accident.

So, what, you may ask, is wrong with it? Actually there are a few reasons why biodiesel isn’t all it’s touted to be.

1. Biodiesel is extremely sensitive to cold weather. It also has a higher cloud point than fuel made from petroleum. This means you’ll still need anti-freeze treatments to run your truck in when thermometers plummet.
2. Biodiesel may require modifications to your engine, although some people think modifications won’t be necessary. Since biodiesel has a solvent effect, it may release accumulated deposits from the tank walls or pipes from when the truck was run entirely on petroleum-based fuel which may cause blocked fuel lines and filters.
3. Biodiesel, for all of its great selling points, isn’t cheap to produce. In fact, it’s actually more expensive right now to produce one gallon of biodiesel fuel as it is to produce that made from petroleum. Hopefully the price to produce biodiesel will be reduced which will make it cheaper for the user, as well.

Ultimately, the choice to run biodiesel in your truck instead of diesel fuel made from petroleum products is entirely up to you. Whether or not you can find biodiesel may be another factor in whether or not you choose to use it.

Every Driver Has Had One Of Those Experiences Only Us Drivers Can Relate To! Had An Experience On The Road You’d Like To Share? Leave your comments now and enter to win a $500.00 gas card. We give away one each month and you can be our next winner… Click Here To Enter Now!

Want to  Watch those  extra pounds drop off  naturally while you sit ? Go to www.thetruckersedge.com/home

Post a comment

• Polls

  Do you think the speed limit should be changed to 55 MPH?

  • Yes
  • No

  View Results

   Loading ...

• Recent Articles

  • The Taxman Cometh
  • Trim the Trucking Expense Fat
  • What to do While Stuck in Traffic
  • What’s a Trucker to Do for Retirement?
  • Biodiesel: All It’s Cracked Up to Be?
  • GPS and Other Routing Software
  • Help for Truck Drivers with Sleep Apnea
  • No Rest for the Sick DRIVER
  • On-Board Safety
  • Start Planning Mother’s Day for Women Truckers Now

• Categories

  • Money Saving Tips
  • Resources
  • Secrets To Fuel Savings
  • The Healthy Trucker
  • Trucker Lifestyle
  • Women Truckers

• Archives

  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008

• Links

  • The Truckers Edge