Biodiesel has numerous competitive advantages.
Biodiesel:
- Is non-toxic (unlike petrodiesel) and degrades more than three times faster than petrodiesel.
- Blends easily in any concentration with petrodiesel and enables total user flexibility--it can be splash-blended with petrodiesel creating a biodiesel blend one day, petrodiesel alone the next day, and then back to a biodiesel blend.
- Is easily used in all diesel vehicles with little or no modification.
- Increases the lubricity in diesel engines, thus enhancing engine life, performance, and safety. Biodiesel could be the ideal additive to diesel for maintaining the fuel’s lubricity, especially when the new lower sulfur emission standards for diesel-fueled vehicles will be in place. The amount of sulfur allowed in emissions will be 15 parts per million (ppm) compared to the current level of 500 ppm.
- Has numerous health advantages compared to diesel. In its regular form, diesel exhaust contains more than 40 constituents which are listed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as hazardous air pollutants or toxic air contaminants, and at least 21 that are listed by the State of California as known carcinogens or reproductive toxicants. 80% of the total cancer risk for all hazardous air pollutants is associated with the inhalation of diesel exhaust. Compared to regular diesel, pure biodiesel (100% biodiesel-not a blend) produces a 73% reduction in lifecycle CO2 emissions, a 67% reduction in unburned hydrocarbons, a 48% reduction in carbon monoxide, a 47% reduction in particulate matter, a 100% reduction in sulphur oxide emissions, and an 80% reduction in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which can cause cancer and emphysema. Biodiesel’s only downside is up to a 10% increase in nitrogen oxide emissions.