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Bio Diesel
In the past decade there has been extensive research and development into creating a biodiesel which is efficient enough to be used as a replacement for standard fuels.
Biodiesels is of roughly the same consistency as standard diesel fuel and is dark yellow in colour. It has a relatively low flash point of around 150°C making it quite an inflammable liquid. This is still significantly higher than standard diesel fuel which has a flash point of around 61.5°C. Despite this difference in the flash points, in warmer climate bio-diesels can be used undiluted in a standard diesel engine without any adjustments being required. In cooler climates a mixture of bio-diesel and stand diesel can be used to run an engine.
Although there has been extensive research to develop a bio-diesel which will operate in continuously in a standard engine there have been a number of cases reported of injector pump failure. At present it has not been determined whether these failures have been down to the use of this new fuel source but it is possible the higher viscosity of a bio-diesel has significantly contributed to their failure.
At present the EU is the worlds largest producer of biodiesel and has undergone a massive growth stage in its production. This rose by some 66% during 2004-2005 and this growth looks set to continue as more and more people look to switch to the greener fuel. At present the world production figure stands at 3.4 million tonnes but this figure is expected to rise to around 12 million tonnes by 2010.
Although it is not yet a mainstream fuel it is likely that a shift will occur by 2010 whereby it is available alongside standard diesel. We are now being moved towards diesel powered cars more and more in a bid to reduce harmful emissions which are leading to global warming, and with the continued depletion of the worlds oil reserves this fuel is of vital importance as an energy source in the future.