Biodiesel myths and facts, simplified
It's not an easy time to be a biofuel promoter. Plug-ins are getting all of the automaker and government support, and lingering questions about biofuel's impact on the environment and food prices can have people shying away. When it comes to biodiesel, dealing with different levels of the plant-based fuel in the petroleum and questions about OEM warranty issues can impact a person's or fleet's decision whether or not to use B5 or B20 or B99 or stick with straight petroleum.
If you're looking for a few simple answers to these questions, then the National Biodiesel Board would like you to download a new PDF called "Biodiesel Myths Busted." The brochure includes helpful items like this one:
Myth: Biodiesel use voids manufacturers' engine warranty coverage.
Fact: All major U.S. automakers and engine manufacturers accept the use of up to at least B5, and many major engine companies have stated formally that the use of high quality biodiesel blends up to B20 will not void their parts and workmanship warranties. For a listing of specific statements from the engine companies, please visit the National Biodiesel Board Web site.
The PDF also covers issues of biodiesel's shelf life, whether there is a biodiesel fuel standard, how it operates in cold weather and its effect on food prices. Get it here.
[Source: National Biodiesel Board]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
PeterM 6:45PM (10/09/2009)
The nice people can talk BioDiesel up all they want. The sad reality is that its created from palm or other oils. The plants the oils come from are grown in giant plantations. In creating them indigent farmers are displaced, native forests destroyed..masses of water used. and all that just to create a replacement fuel that does nothing at all for sustainability CO2 reduction or anything else that we are striving for....
If all that effort just went towards getting BEV's onto the road... oh well..
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Rick 8:16PM (10/09/2009)
and deforestation is a bigger contributor of CO2 than transportation.
Boyprodigy1 4:09AM (10/10/2009)
The energy returns can't be that positive either... I'm sure they are, I am just saying that there are for sure more efficient ways to put our energy into transportation.
elmo02 7:35AM (10/10/2009)
One word: algae.
More words: Algae are 15 X more productive than any plant (palm, jatropha) and do NOT require farmable land. We are cultivating algae on top of volcanic rock that is otherwise unusable. Next project may well be in the Sahara. Everybody wins.
Deforestation should not be tolerated at all!
Algae are by far the best means of converting overly-abundant sunlight into storable energy from every aspect. Only "big oil" stands to lose, if they ignore this reality.
mustaphadamus 8:14AM (10/10/2009)
PeterM what you said is untrue it is not made ONLY from what you have stated:
Check this out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyoKTbxerpQ
Boyprodigy1 1:07PM (10/10/2009)
@elmo02
That is true. It is a self reproducing sustainable source of energy that in a worst case scenario will be able to be grown in the ocean. I still don't see diesel in our transportation future though.
nrb 3:58PM (10/10/2009)
I like the idea of biodiesel and I want it to do well, but crap like this doesn't help me.
I read the "Myth" in this blog article (what the hell do we call these things?). The "myth" is perfectly valid. Reading the answer, indicate that the use of anything greater than 5% biodiesel could violate your warranty.
It's not a myth. It's a valid concern. It's a concern that they have an answer for. If they'd done a FAQ type thing rather than the "myths BUSTED" type of thing, I'd be willing to read on.
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RB 8:34PM (10/10/2009)
It is true that biodiesel is made from sources other than palm oil. Just ask the German beer drinkers who have been protesting because of the conversion of hops production to soy production for biodiesel use, in large part because of subsidies they are also paying for.
Should algal biodiesel production ever be successfully commercialized, biodiesel would be an entirely different proposition. In the mean time it makes more sense to get the trucks off the highway and use containerized rail shipments for long haul transport. Rail transport is about 12 times more fuel efficient than truck transport. The remaining trucks should be converted to CNG. It is produced in the USA which would reduce the need for oil imports and is clean burning as well.
Clean diesels and CNG power for automobiles can increase the energy efficiency of automobiles. The problem here is the current administration has committed to a policy of allowing the states to individually regulate exhaust emissions which is not an economically viable model for the auto manufacturers. (A single national technical standard is vastly preferable.) Auto manufacturers are dropping plans for diesel development as a consequence of this policy.
Getting the trucks off the road effectively increases the capacity of existing highways and reduces the damage done to them by the heavy vehicles thereby reducing the amount of needed new construction and reducing maintenance costs of existing highways.
Tony Belding 4:41PM (10/12/2009)
We used to be told that anything up to B100 was perfectly fine in a modern diesel engine. Now they've backed down to B5? That doesn't sound like a myth busted to me.
However, I've read one problem is that the newest diesels are designed to meet new and very stringent emissions regulations, and the extra gear that's been added to clean them up is a source of problems with biodiesel (and wouldn't be needed if they were running something like B80+).
Sounds like a good deal for the oil companies. They can charge more for refining "clean diesel" and meanwhile the introduction of biofuel is sabotaged.
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PeterM 5:38AM (10/11/2009)
Indeed in my first post I stated that BIO-DIESEL is created by using arable land to produce oil that is then converted into fuel for vehicles.
Someone mentioned the use of Hops to do this as well.
And some pointed out that Algae can and is used.
All 'great science'.
But the issue is that we are supposedly meant to be reducing our carbon footprint... NONE of those initiatives gets us away from the 'burning something in a set of piston pushing cylinders' paradigm of powering our transportation, in other words its an old idea that needs to be consigned to the scrap heap of history.
If we are really going to achieve global reduction of CO2 and all the other poisons that internal combustion produces (in all the phases of is production and use...) we need to get onto BEV personal transportation and move the rest on the rails wherever possible.
Needless to say I think the same about Hydrogen.. but thats a whole other ball of wax.
nuff said..
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DasBoese 9:44AM (10/11/2009)
I don't think you quite understand what the carbon cycle is, and why burning fossil fuels is bad while biofuels aren't.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_cycle
biodieselfacts.co.uk 7:13AM (10/11/2009)
we have just launched a cool new ebook on biodiesel which may be of interest to a few of you and is now available on Ebay 230387000605.
We have a wealth of experience in biodiesel and want to make sure that new producers be it home or small commercial know what they are doing and understand the pitfalls and issues before jumping in and spending lots of money on kit...
We are also happy to answer any questiosn regarding UK bio diesel production / opportunities etc.
Thanks
T
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Tommy 1:45PM (10/11/2009)
Wrong answer, soy breath.
In the Midwest many suppliers of biodiesel are using soybean based oil, and some farmers are growing their own seed stock and producing their own biodiesel. My wife's VW TDI has run on B2 to B50 soybean biodiesel grown and produced in Iowa for 4 years now. It has over 130K miles and still gets 50+ mpg on the highway.
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Diogenes Online 8:43PM (10/12/2009)
The myth still remains. Fuel related damage is never covered by automobile warranties, ergo using biodiesel cannot void your warranty. Damage caused by fuel would never be covered whether 100% dead dino variety or not. In the U.S., the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act would require the manufacturer to prove that the damage resulted from bad fuel before denying warranty coverage. Holding the manufacturers feet to the fire on this point may take quite a bit of perseverance.
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Junk Science Skeptic 3:58PM (10/12/2009)
Two issues with the NBB press release.
1. Saying "biodiesel" implies B100, just as saying ethanol implies E100. Under currently accepted usage, anything less than E100 is referred to by its concentration, E85 for example, not generically as ethanol. Most of the claims in the NBB press release say "biodiesel" in the headline, but qualify the claim in the fine print that what they are actually talking about is B5-B20, not B100. Using the NBB's standard, virtually every gallon of gasoline sold in the U.S. should be called ethanol.
2. The "lifecycle" carbon claim is a fuzzy math scam. Sure, soybean plants absorb CO2 as they grow, but that happens whether they're turned into fuel or not. Technically speaking, we're told that petroleum was plant/organic matter long ago, and at that time CO2 was absorbed from the atmosphere into what would one day become petroleum. The only "lifecycle" difference between petroleum and biodiesel, is the length of time the energy was stored as organic carbon, there's not an ounce of difference at the tailpipe. And again, the claims of carbon reduction are based on rarely used B100, not the more common B5-B20.
I'm all for any energy source that keeps jobs and production here in the U.S., but I have a big problem when promoters start making claims that would make a telemarketer blush.
Sell it as American-Made fuel, be honest about the concentration (if it's not B100, it's not biodiesel, it's a Bxx blend), and work toward ensuring that all production meets the ASTM and BQ9000 specs.
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loader2000 3:51PM (10/12/2009)
Just to clarify, buring biodiesil doesn't put any more carbon into the air then was trapped in the process of growing it.
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Tim 6:13PM (10/12/2009)
Really? So all of the tractors, trucks, chemicals, and fertilizers are carbon free?
So extra fertilizer doesn't run into the Mississippi and choke the Gulf of Mexico
So drilling oil in ANWR doesn't create American jobs?
Life is so simple for you liberals, who are congenitally incapable of looking at both sides of an issue, apparently.
AndrewO 4:13PM (10/12/2009)
I am sure that PeterM is quite satisfied in his viewpoint about carbon footprint and such.
Biodiesel is as complex in its creation as well as in its use.
In Arkansas, chicken renderings are converted into biodiesel.
Wow, PeterM, didn't know that did you...
The addition of Biodiesel (B5, B10, or B20) actually replaces the past use of sulfur as a lubricant in fuel. Thus reducing pollution and making PeterM breathe easier.
Yes, there is a subsidy. Yes, subsidies distort the marketplace.
It is a very intricate and complex world we live in. Simplistic criticism of this issue is for children. Be an adult and try some on in the real world.
BTW, as a farmer, I have used B100 in the summer. Works great...Smells like french fries.
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BiodieselTech 4:56PM (10/12/2009)
I work for the National Biodiesel Board and would love to answer some of the questions you readers may have. It seems that, much like our political environment, news agencies report information without getting all the facts first! Please send me an email or visit our website. www.biodiesel.org jthaeler@biodiesel.org
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Joey Mazz 12:28AM (10/13/2009)
Why do they even need to grow any additional plants/vegetables to create biodiesel? Isn't there enough used cooking oil from every chain restaurant or fast food stand to provide the necessary bulk of the fuel?
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