Biofuels have been one of the most talked about renewable fuel sources over the past decade. The world is now attempting to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, which create a significant amount of pollution and otherwise harm the environment. As a result, bio fuels such as algae biodiesel, which generate less Carbon Dioxide while being burned, may be able to garner widespread support.

A biofuel can have several forms: gas, solid, or liquid. The form that the fuel is stored in is based on how its base material was harvested. Any carbon based substance can be used to create a biofuel.

Biodiesel is the alternative fuel made out of natural ingredients such as coconut oil, soy bean or vegetable oils. The source material is replenishable so biodiesel is considered as a renewable energy source in the purest form.

Biodiesel could be used in its pure form or it could be mixed with conventional petroleum diesel (petroleum diesel is fuel refined from crude oil or fossil fuel). When biodiesel is mixed together with petroleum diesel, the mixture could directly be used on a vehicle that runs on conventional petroleum diesel without the need for optimizers and engine or vehicular modification. Pure Biodiesel could be directly utilized by the diesel engine as fuel, however, the use of pure biodiesel requires engine modifications so that performance will not suffer.

Biodiesel is made through the transesterification of fat or vegetable oil, where the oils are subjected to a reaction between the oil itself and alcohol. The process will remove significant amounts of glycerin that is naturally present in fat or vegetable oil. Glycerin has to be removed since it causes undesirable results if used in a diesel engine. Industry specifications impose strict regulations on the quality of biodiesel that companies produce.

History of Biodiesel

The early years of Biodiesel started way back in 1853 with E. Duffy and J. Patrick’s (both scientists) idea of subjecting vegetable oil to a transesterification process. This process enabled the scientists to obtain a substance that we know today as Biodiesel. However, the biodiesel that they produced did not find solid application and use until the invention of a fully working diesel engine.Biodiesel

This can be attributed to Rudolf Diesel who invented the diesel engine by using an iron cylinder connected to a flywheel. Diesel demonstrated the ability and potential of his diesel engine on August 10, 1883 at Augsburg, Germany. Although his simple engine used the biofuel peanut oil instead of the type of biodiesel Duffy and Patrick had produced, Diesel’s engine paved the way for biodiesel’s use in the automotive industry.

Algae Biodiesel

The single largest advantage of biodiesel algae is their significantly greater harvest potential in comparison to corn or soy. Algae can generate more than 100,000 gallons of oil per acre over the course of the year depending on the type of algae, method of oil extraction, and manner in which the algae are grown. Approximately 100 million acres of algae can equal the approximately 140 billion gallons of biodiesel algae required to replace all of the world’s crude oil. Traditional biodiesel crops just cannot equate to this production rate. Most algae used to create diesel grow at a rate that is 50 to 100 times greater than traditional crops used for the process, and do not require freshwater or soil to be grown. Another great advantage of algae farms is that as the algae grow, they remove carbon dioxide from the air and replace it with oxygen. This makes it attractive for algae to be placed near manufacturing plants that create a large amount of carbon dioxide.

How Companies Remove Oil from Algae

The most significant cost related to producing biodiesel fuel from algae has been the oil extraction process. After the algae are harvested, the easiest, but least efficient way to remove the oil is via an oil press that has approximately a 75% extraction rate. Hexane solvent can be used after the algae pass through the oil press being mixed with the leftover algae, which results in a 95% extraction rate. Finally, the super-critical fluids method pressurizes the algae, then heats them to change them into both a liquid and gas. CO2 is then mixed with the algae, turning them to oil. This method has almost a 100% extraction rate, but the extraction equipment and maintenance are quite costly. After the algae oil is removed, it goes through a refinement process in which it is used to create biodiesel.

Biodiesel in Application

Biodiesel could be used directly in cars with regular diesel engines if it is used together with regular petroleum diesel to form blends. The effective use of such blends does not require modifications on the engine or on the vehicle.

Motorists that use biodiesel in their vehicles today should know the corresponding “code names” that are designated to the different blends readily available for purchase. The most commonly used blends are the “B100” which means 100 percent Biodiesel, and “B20” which denotes a mixture of 20 percent Biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum diesel.

Advantages of Biodiesel

Vehicles that are run using Biodiesel fuel show significant reduction in carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions regardless if the biodiesel is blended with petroleum or used in pure form. Carbon monoxide emissions are estimated to be reduced by more or less 73 percent.

Unfortunately, there are still problems with Biodiesel utilization. For instance, it leads to escalated Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emissions which could ultimately aggravate the pollution problem.