Bio Diesel

ecoangel

Well-Known Member
Biodiesel:

Just back from the first UK Bio Diesel Expo that was held in Newark Notts.

Photos online at : www.lukafoto.com

All diesel A2s can run on RME approved bio diesel down to minus 10 deg C.

UK has a LOT of fallow land and set aside that farmers don't use. We are not talking about 100% Bio diesel for the general populace but a blend with mineral diesel of about 5% which improves lubricity and hence no need for sulphur.

University of Strathclyde did research into the potential quantities of biodiesel that could be produced on the UK's 10% setaside farmland.

From this research we can see the potential yeild of finished biodiesel from rapeseed:

1 hectare of rapeseed = 1,322 Litres
1 acre of rapeseed = 535 Litres

The original article can be found at:
http://www.esru.strath.ac.uk/EandE/Web_sites/02-03/biofuels/quant_biodiesel.htm

A better place to grow bio fuels is sunnier climates like Africa where the likes of (non invasive and GM free)Elephant grass can be used to boost food production (Maize Sorgum etc) as well as be used as fuel.


In Germany there is no tax on biodiesel so it is 30% cheaper than petrol. In UK Tax has been reduced from around 55ppl to about 27ppl if you choose to reun on (well filtered!) waste chip fat.

For 100% bio diesel would recommend conversion using Elsbett system. Elsbett invented the Pumpe Duse technology during the fuel crisis 1970s with a three cylinder design! see: http://www.elsbett.com/gb/about-us/introduction.html
 
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I know its straying quite a bit from A2s but I'm quite interested in all this - one of my ex students is doing an MSc in Sustainable something or other and sent me a presentation he did on bio fuels, and a friend went to hear George Monbiot (sorry if spelling is wrong), he said (and I'm paraphrasing) petrol has got a strong future as the percentage of each gallon of crude that is able to be converted to diesel is quite small, so we will always have more petrol than diesel, and whilst I agree that biodiesel if itself a step forward, for as long as we are dependant on fossil diesel, we will have a great deal of petrol too, and the price of diesel will rise more sharply than petrol. Nice to see a bit of healthy debate on a car forum without talking about cars. Oh and you may have seen the latest news that the "greenest" range of cars (according to the Americans) is...Jeep. One study found that over its lifetime, a Prius was more resource intensive (polluting) that a 4.0 V8 petrol Jeep, and whilst I don't necessarily agree everything that Americans write, I do sometimes feel that we are becoming very anti petrol without thinking about the whole effect of using different fuels such as diesel, electric hybrids etc etc. Sorry I'll get my coat.
 
The way I see it is we might be able to become slightly more energy efficient, but ultimately if we keep requiring energy in the amounts we desire then there is bound to be a by-product that will cause environmental change. Even if we go fully nuclear fusion we will still generate loads of heat in energy transfers.

I believe the only answer for the future is to either create a system which causes +ve environmental change or stop supplying people with so much energy (ration its quantity rather than price).
 
I would be shocked and surprised if any Prius can get as good MPG as my TDi75.

My sister drives a 1.0 Citroen C1 and it is even better again.

I will probably be lynched by the environmentalists for saying it but given the great economy I am getting in my A2, there is no incentive for me to change to alternative fuels.

I understand that Rudolf Diesel invented his engine to be able to accept other forms of fuel in times of fuel shortage but I would be worried about ruining the car if I emptied the vats at the local chippy into my fuel tank.
 
Smick

You CAN run your A2 1.4 TDI on RME Biodiesel without damaging either it or your warranty! Audi DE say so in their own Owner's handbook. The only thing you have to do is to make sure your supplier meets this standard.

RIX sell 5% Blend of Biodiesel that will run in absolutely every diesel car and in fact will improve your MPG because it makes it more slippery!
 
Crude Oil refining:

I accept that from a barrel of Crude Oil diesel accounts for around 18% whilst petroleum distillate is around 43%. However, Petroleum then requires further refining to be used in todays engines. Once Kersone is included (jet fuel and oil burning central heating boilers and even Merc A class diesel engines for the Diamond Twin Star aeroplane) the difference between petrol and "diesel" is quanties by volume is quite small.

The big difference is in CO2 emissions from a petrol vrs a diesel. Fuel consumption and Thermodynamic efficiency of the ICE are the obvious ones.

Matters get worse for petrol engines as they age. At 100,000 miles a diesel engine will still be close to factrory fresh emissions. A petrol engine (petrol being a cutting fluid) will have more piston/piston ring and valve wear and therefore operate a reduced efficiency.

Bio Ethanol is becoming more popular in the USA and now Somerset UK after a boom in the 1970s in Brasil. The advantage is thet petrol engines can be made to run on a blend or in special cases 100% Ethanol (eg:the Lotus Exige 265E).

However in CO2 terms Ethanol production is almost Carbon positive - ie: the amount of work done to produce the stuff and then the lower efficiency of car engines burning the fuel and increased wear rate (especially on unmodified cars) results in minor savings. Even Brasil is now looking at alternatives including Elephant grass power stations and Bio Diesel plants.

This is mainly because the calorific value of Ethanol is significantly lower than petrol so you burn a lot more of it. That in turn means much more agricultural land would be needed to make enough fuel for the 25mpg Mondeo classes. see: http://www.autobloggreen.com/2006/06/21/how-e85-fails-the-numbers/

Which in turn puts the price of food up if there is less land to grow nutritional crops on!
 
I have a question about this:

How does bio-diesel compare with regular diesel in the matter of particulates' emissions? :confused:

As I've been given to understand, diesel particulates (soot) are among the most carcinogenic in the world. Not great for health, as any cyclist will tell you when a bus is in front! Cough!
 
Bio diesel reduces pariculates significantly - but raises Nox very slightly if 100%

Seevery strict USA EPA reports: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/models/biodsl.htm

Also: http://www.cleanairchoice.org/outdoor/biodieselfactsheets.asp

Which is supported by American Lung Association:

Health Effects
Biodiesel is safer for people to breathe. Research conducted in the US shows biodiesel
emissions have decreased levels of all target polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)
and nitrited PAH compounds, as compared to petroleum diesel exhaust. PAH and
nPAH compounds have been identified as potential cancer causing compounds.
Targeted PAH compounds were reduced by 75 to 85 percent, with the exception of
benzo(a)anthracene, which was reduced by roughly 50 percent. Target nPAH
compounds were also reduced dramatically with biodiesel fuel, with 2-nitrofluorene
and 1-nitropyrene reduced by 90 percent, and the rest of the nPAH compounds
reduced to only trace levels. All of these reductions are due to the fact the biodiesel
fuel contains no aromatic compounds.
 
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