Awareness, use, and perceptions of biodiesel: A comparison of consumers in Belgium and the United States

Belgian (N = 61) and American (N = 134) fuel consumers were interviewed in the summer of 2012 to determine their awareness, use, and perceptions of biodiesel. Consumers who were aware of biodiesel were asked their perceptions. A significantly P \u3c 0.0001) higher percentage of Belgian consumers (78.7%) reported owning or driving a diesel vehicle compared to American consumers (9.0%). Belgian and American consumers moderately agreed biodiesel is a high-quality fuel. For both Belgian and American consumers, there was no significant association between owning a diesel vehicle and being aware of biodiesel or having purchased biodiesel. Although Belgian and American consumers agreed that using non-food crops for biodiesel is justified, Belgians were significantly less supportive than American consumers of using food crops for biodiesel. Both Belgian and American consumers disagreed with the statement “I would never use biodiesel”, and the two sets of consumers moderately disagreed that diesel engines would not run properly on biodiesel. Belgian and American consumers agreed that global warming is increasing; however, American consumers were more positive about the potential of biodiesel to reduce harmful exhaust emissions and global warming. Belgian consumers moderately agreed and American consumers agreed that biodiesel is better to use because it is made from renewable resources. Belgian and American consumers generally show similar perceptions of biodiesel, with the exception that American consumers were more positive toward the environmental and renewable aspects of biodiesel use. Recommendations for further research include gaining a better understanding of the potential positive influences that impact consumers’ perceptions of biodiesel

Process system engineering in biodiesel production: a review

Biodiesel is fast becoming a popular alternative to fossil fuels, as it is natural, renewable and has low toxic emissions. Strategies that have been adopted to ensure continued growth of the biodiesel industry are policy development, reduction of biodiesel tax, offset funding for incremental fuel cost from CO2 emission fuel and support for research and development of potential biodiesel feedstocks. Recent innovations of biodiesel processes are focused on the development of more efficient catalysts and in the utilization of novel reaction media such as supercritical fluids as well as on a variety of oil feedstocks such as virgin and waste oils. Biodiesel production involves complex processes which require systematic process design and optimization. The main aim of designing biodiesel plants is to maxime conversion of ethyl or methyl esters at the lowest capital cost of the plant. The design should also consider safety and environmental concerns. Process system engineering (PSE) is a systematic approach to design and analyze complex processes by using a variety of PSE tools for the optimization of biodiesel production. This paper reviews the latest PSE tools used in development of novel biodiesel processes. It describes the main PSE elements such as process model development and product design, simulation of biodiesel processes, optimization of biodiesel synthesis, and integration of reactor and separation systems. This review also highlights the sustainability of biodiesel production

South America Biodiesel Program

Biodiesel, a diesel fuel substitute produced from renewable resources such as soybean oil, has demonstrated potential as a particulate matter and CO2 reduction strategy for transportation markets. Although not currently in commercial production or use, biodiesel is not a new fuel to South America. In fact, research activities date back to the 1970s. As a result of the OPEC crisis, a significant amount of research on biodiesel and ethanol was conducted by the Brazilian government. However, the program was canceled before significant levels of research could be conducted. Concern over the environment and the amount of energy that is imported on an annual basis, combined with global soybean marketing issues, have spurred the recent activities to commercialize biodiesel in Brazil and Argentina. This report will provide some insight into the potential for production and usage of biodiesel in Brazil and Argentina. Commercialization of a regulated product, such as biodiesel, is an enormous task. It requires significant effort and political support to establish a foundation for reoccurring production and sales. The USB project has been a stimulus for biodiesel advocates in these two countries. However, commercialization will require additional activity and South American resolution of several issues prior to biodiesel introduction and widespread commercialization

Process system engineering in biodiesel production: a review

Biodiesel is fast becoming a popular alternative to fossil fuels, as it is natural, renewable and has low toxic emissions. Strategies that have been adopted to ensure continued growth of the biodiesel industry are policy development, reduction of biodiesel tax, offset funding for incremental fuel cost from CO2 emission fuel and support for research and development of potential biodiesel feedstocks. Recent innovations of biodiesel processes are focused on the development of more efficient catalysts and in the utilization of novel reaction media such as supercritical fluids as well as on a variety of oil feedstocks such as virgin and waste oils. Biodiesel production involves complex processes which require systematic process design and optimization. The main aim of designing biodiesel plants is to maxime conversion of ethyl or methyl esters at the lowest capital cost of the plant. The design should also consider safety and environmental concerns. Process system engineering (PSE) is a systematic approach to design and analyze complex processes by using a variety of PSE tools for the optimization of biodiesel production. This paper reviews the latest PSE tools used in development of novel biodiesel processes. It describes the main PSE elements such as process model development and product design, simulation of biodiesel processes, optimization of biodiesel synthesis, and integration of reactor and separation systems. This review also highlights the sustainability of biodiesel production

Biodiesel production from jatropha seeds: Solvent extraction and in situ transesterification in a single step

The objective of this study was to investigate solvent extraction and in situ transesterification in a single step to allow direct production of biodiesel from jatropha seeds. Experiments were conducted using milled jatropha seeds, and n-hexane as extracting solvent. The influence of methanol to seed ratio (2:1–6:1), amount of alkali (KOH) catalyst (0.05–0.1 mol/L in methanol), stirring speed (700–900 rpm), temperature (40–60 °C) and reaction time (3–5 h) was examined to define optimum biodiesel yield and biodiesel quality after water washing and drying. When stirring speed, temperature and reaction time were fixed at 700 rpm, 60 °C and 4 h respectively, highest biodiesel yield (80% with a fatty acid methyl ester purity of 99.9%) and optimum biodiesel quality were obtained with a methanol to seed ratio of 6:1 and 0.075 mol/L KOH in methanol. Subsequently, the influence of stirring speed, temperature and reaction time on biodiesel yield and biodiesel quality was studied, by applying the randomized factorial experimental design with ANOVA (F-test at p = 0.05), and using the optimum values previously found for methanol to seed ratio and KOH catalyst level. Most experimental runs conducted at 50 °C resulted to high biodiesel yields, while stirring speed and reaction time did not give significantly effect. The highest biodiesel yield (87% with a fatty acid methyl ester purity of 99.7%) was obtained with a methanol to seed ratio of 6:1, KOH catalyst of 0.075 mol/L in methanol, a stirring speed of 800 rpm, a temperature of 50 °C, and a reaction time of 5 h. The effects of stirring speed, temperature and reaction time on biodiesel quality were not significant. Most of the biodiesel quality obtained in this study conformed to the Indonesian Biodiesel Standard

Used cooking oil as a source for biodiesel blend

With the depleted world petroleum reserves and increase demand for oil as a fuel, it has become imperative to investigate the possibility of using non-fossil fuel as an alternative fuel for diesel engine. Therefore, this paper describes the experimental investigation on possibility of producing biodiesel from used cooking oil and their properties, characteristics and performance as a blended biodiesel for diesel engine at constant speed. Properties analysis of biodiesel from used cooking oil in accordance to the ASTM D6751 specification showed that it fulfilled the requirements of a biodiesel fuel specification. Comparison also conducted between the ordinary diesel as a standard fuel and several set of blended biodiesel range from I% to 5% volume of biodiesel. The properties of blended biodiesel were not much different to the properties of conventional diesel fuel except the density and specific gravity. The density of diesel is 0.8358 gm/cc and the biodiesel is 0.8723 gm/cc. For blended biodiesel, it's slightly increased from 0.8363 gm/cc for I% to 0.8385 gm/cc for 5%. The results from Detroit Deisel Engine performance test showed that the blending fuel sample produced almost the same performance characteristics as compared to conventional diesel. As a result, blended biodiesel with used cooking oil is suitable to be used up to 5% as a fuel for diesel engine at constant speed and gives the same engine performances as conventional diesel fue

An overview of biodiesel energy

Over the last ten years’ attention to biofuels production has increased dramatically and become crucial. One of the main factors is the rise in world oil prices, coupled with the abatement of greenhouse gas emissions and concerns about energy security. Biodiesel is diesel fuel extracted and made out of animal fats, vegetable oils, or recycled restaurant greases. It is harmless, biodegradable, and generate fewer air pollutants than conventional-based diesel. This paper will be summarized the overview of biodiesel including. competitiveness of biodiesel, ii. biodiesel production and iii. engine performance using biodiesel

An econometric analysis of the link between biodiesel demand and Malaysian palm oil market

The objective of this study is to describe the important factors affecting Malaysian palm oil industry especially biodiesel demand. To that end a market model representing palm oil production, import, world excess demand, domestic consumption, export demand, rest of the world excess supply and palm oil prices is formulated.A system of equations of eight structural equations and four identities is estimated by two stage least squares method using annual data for the period 1976-2008.The domestic price equation is formed to investigate the link between biodiesel demand and the Malaysian palm oil market. The domestic price is significantly affected by Malaysian ending stock, world palm oil price, biodiesel demand and lagged domestic price. The elasticity of Malaysian palm oil domestic price with respect to biodiesel demand is then obtained. Results suggest that biodiesel demand has a positive impact on the Malaysian palm oil domestic price. Thus, significant growth in biodiesel demand is important in explaining Malaysian palm oil price determination

Continuous biodiesel process using ultrasonic in-line reactor for Jatropha Curcas Oil (JCO)

Biodiesel is an alternative fuel for replacing diesel fuel in compression ignition engines. Due to the complexity of the diesel fuel production and exhaust emissions from petroleum-fuelled engines will give negative impact to the environment. In this study, the sodium hydroxide as the catalyst was used to react with methanol for obtaining chemical compound that is called methyl ester which is known as biodiesel. The method used are Ultrasonic. Basically, this method will reduce the reaction time on the conversation of jatropha curcas oil (JCO) into biodiesel. The experiment was to determine the effect of esters contents by reaction time, molar ratio methanol (MeOH) to JCO, the amount of catalyst, frequency and power output of ultrasonic using ultrasonic in-line reactor. The optimum production of biodiesel was achieved at 7 minutes of reaction time, 1%wt of catalyst concentration and molar ratio methanol to oil 12:1, frequency ultrasonic of 20 KHz and ultrasonic output 600 Watt at temperature 65°C. The biodiesel produced by this method has been referred according to ASTM D6751. From the result, the biodiesel produced from this method has satisfied the requirement biodiesel standard. This optimum result in this research can be used to run larger pilot plant designed for industry

Structure of the Canola and Biodiesel Industries

The biodiesel industry in the United States has grown significantly in recent years. Production increased from 25 million gallons in 2004 to an estimated 250 million gallons in 2006, and many new plants are being built. Most biodiesel in the United States is produced from soybean oil, but canola offers characteristics which make it a favorable feedstock for biodiesel production. Characteristics of canola oil also make it an increasingly popular choice for human consumption. This study examines the structure of the biodiesel and canola industries. Specifically, the study describes changes in the biodiesel industry, trends in canola production in the United States and Canada, profitability and production risk for canola, the characteristics of canola oil for both human consumption and biodiesel production, the profitability of biodiesel production, and the potential to meet the demand for biodiesel production in the United States.Canola, Biodiesel, Vegetable oil, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,