:: Greaseball - Why Biofuels? ::

What renewable fuels can greaseballers use?
Greaseballers can use any renewable energy source such as biofuels, biomass, solar, hydrogen, wind…For GB ‘07, we are using biodiesel, waste grease and vegetable oil.

What are biofuels?
Biofuels are fuels derived from living plants. They are a renewable energy source unlike fossil fuels. Crops grown to produce biofuels commonly include corn, soybeans, flaxseed, rapeseed, sugarcane and palm oil. Biofuels include biodiesel and vegetable oil (including waste grease) which can be used in diesel engines, and ethanol which can be used in gasoline engines.

What is biodiesel?
Biodiesel is a renewable fuel that can be manufactured from vegetable oils, animal fats or recycled restaurant grease. It is safe, biodegradable and reduces tailpipe emissions of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulates, and hydrocarbons. Pure, non-blended biodiesel can be poured straight into the tank of any diesel vehicle or blended with petroleum diesel up to any percentage, ranging from B5 (5% biodiesel mixed with regular diesel) to B100 – 100% biodiesel. Biodiesel can be produced locally in most countries in the world reducing dependence on imported fuel.

How do you make it?
Biodiesel is made through a chemical process called transesterification whereby the glycerin is separated from the fat or vegetable oil. The process leaves behind two products — methyl esters (the chemical name for biodiesel) and glycerin (a valuable byproduct that can be used to make soaps and other products). Almost any crop can be used to make biodiesel, dependent on the cost-benefit of course, including: corn, cashews, cotton, soybeans, palm, sunflowers, coffee, rice, linseed, coconuts, sesame seeds, jatropha, even algae!

What are the benefits?
Many users cite lower engine wear as one benefit of using biodiesel.
Biodiesel also acts as a better solvent than regular fuel, cleaning deposits from fuel lines. This means fuel filters should be changed regularly when first switching to biodiesel. Biodiesel will degrade natural rubber gaskets and hoses in older diesel vehicles (pre-1992), so these should be replaced, if they haven’t been already.

What is the environmental performance of biodiesel?
Less toxic than table salt and biodegrades as quickly as sugar
Reduces carbon monoxide (about 50%) and carbon dioxide (up to78%) on a net lifecycle basis – biodiesel emissions to the atmosphere are absorbed by the living plants used to produce it, in a continuous cycle. Reduced particulates – up to 20% from the tailpipe, and around 50% during production compared to regular diesel. NOx emissions are slightly higher than regular diesel.

What about waste grease and veggie oil?
Rudolf Diesel, who invented the diesel engine, demonstrated one of his first engines running on peanut oil at the World Fair in 1900. He said at the time "The use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today. But such oils may in the course of time become as important as petroleum…”.

Despite his prediction, veggie oils have remained on the “specials” menu ever since, along with just about every other renewable fuel source. Veggie car enthusiasts make a distinction between waste vegetable oil (WVO) discarded from restaurants and straight vegetable oil (SVO). Filtering waste grease is a must or bits of fried chicken will clog up your fuel lines.

Do you pour grease straight into your gas tank?
Yes and no. Most diesel car engines are suitable for the use of veggie oil and waste grease with slight modifications. The viscosity of the veggie oil/grease must be reduced by preheating it, typically by using heat from the engine otherwise incomplete combustion and carbonization may result. Many veggie fuel systems involve adding an extra fuel tank to accommodate diesel or biodiesel, with the main tank used for the veggie oil and grease. The engine is started on diesel, a switch on the dash changes over to veggie power as soon as it is warmed up, and switched back to diesel shortly before being switched off to ensure it has no vegetable oil in the engine or fuel lines when started from cold again. Waste grease isn’t hard to find (11 billion liters of it in the US alone per year) and your tailpipe smells of popcorn. Sweet.