Biodiesel and its Effects on Air Quality in Carlisle

What is Biodiesel?

As an alternative fuel, biodiesel, greatly reduces harmful emissions. “Biodiesel is defined as the mono-alkyl esters of fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or animal fats” (Building a Successful Biodiesel Business, 2006, Page 3). Simply put, biodiesel is an alternative to petrodiesel which is derived from vegetable oils or animal fats. The process in which the vegetable oils must go through to be turned into biodiesel is call transesterification. “Transesterification is the process of reacting a triglyceride molecule with a excess of alcohol in the presence of a catalyst (KOH, NaOH, etc.) to produce glycerol and fatty esters” (Building a Successful Biodiesel Business, 2006, Page 4). The vegetable oils are brought to a temperature of 130º Fahrenheit and then reacted with a mixture of methanol or ethanol and lye, potassium or sodium hydroxide. The lye acts as a catalyst to neutralize the free fatty acids in the oil. Once the reaction is complete biodiesel and glycerin are left. For every gallon of oil put into the reaction you receive a gallon of biodiesel and for every gallon of methoxide, methanol and lye mixture, you receive and gallon of glycerin. Due to the nature of lye, soap is created in this process as well. To make the biodiesel usable in engine the soap must be washed out with water. The water is passed through the biodiesel slowly collecting the soap, this mixture of water and soap separates from the biodiesel and is then put down the drain. Now the biodiesel is almost entirely free of soap, but the soap has been replaced with water. The water must be removed from the biodiesel by either, heating and circulating it or by placing a vacuum over the biodiesel. Once the biodiesel is “dry” it can go out to for use in cars, trucks, furnaces, farm equipment, etc.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages

There are many advantages to using biodiesel as opposed to ethanol gas. The first advantage of using biodiesel is that it comes from renewable energy sources. Biodiesel comes from plants which can be replenished. Another advantage is that renewable fuels are carbon neutral. Plants can recapture the carbon dioxide that is emitted from burning renewable fuels. The carbon dioxide is seperated into carbon and oxygen and most carbon is put into the ground while the oxygen is released back into the atmosphere. With renewable fuels, plants are able to naturally balance carbon dioxide emissions. The third main advantage to using biodiesel fuel is that it could potentially strengthen the United States economy. Currently, the renewable fuels industry counts for an insignificant amount of the nation's GDP, however, it has the potential to create over one million jobs, add over $50 billion to the economy, and decrease the trade deficit by at least 30%. The Department of Energy suggests that for every $1 billion reduction in the US trade deficit 27,000 jobs are gained. If all fuel is domestically produced the annual trade deficit will be decreased by $53 billion and create 1.43 million jobs. The production of biodiesel does not require intense training, so jobs would be accessible to many currently unemployed Americans.