Background Information

Definition
A biodiesel vehicle is an internal combustion powered automobile that runs on diesel fuel.  However, instead of running on petroleum based diesel the vehicle runs on biodiesel fuel.  There is no difference between a diesel vehicle and a biodiesel vehicle except for the fuel that powers the vehicle.     

Different Types of BioDiesel
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, defines biodiesel as, “a renewable diesel fuel substitute that can be made by chemically combining any natural oil or fat with an alcohol such as methanol or ethanol.” (NREL)  Biodiesel has slightly different properties than petroleum diesel which allows it to burn cleaner, however these cleaner burning properties sometimes pose a problem for drivers that live in colder climates.  It has been reported that biodiesel thickens under cold temperatures which makes it difficult to start a vehicle in cold weather. (The Green Car Club)  This would only pose a problem for a very small percentage of the population in California.  For those drivers that do live in colder regions there are blends of biodiesel that are mixed with petroleum.  This has led to the development of a labeling system that uses a B and a number from one to one hundred that represents the percentage of biodiesel in the blend of fuel.  B100 would represent biodiesel that is 100% biodiesel and B20 would be a blend of 20% biodiesel and 80% petroleum diesel.  This website will mostly focus on the biodiesel vehicles that run on B100 because it is the most environmentally sustainable blend of biodiesel.    

Biodiesel can be derived from waste vegetable oil however the waste vegetable oil must be processed. Waste vegetable oil is essentially used vegetable oil that has been used for any number of things.  Most waste vegetable oil is collected from behind restaurants and is a byproduct of the food industry.  This oil is often very dirty and contains food particles and glycerin that would destroy an engine.  This process involves filtering out the large food particles and glycerin from the waste vegetable oil.  According to Lyle Estill’s Biodiesel Power, simply spraying water over the fuel several times will rid the fuel of glycerin because glycerin is very hydrophilic and bonds with the water.  The saturated glycerin molecules will then sink to the bottom of oil because they are denser than the oil.  For more information on producing your own biodiesel, please pick up a copy of Biodiesel Power by Lyle Estill.

There are some diesel vehicles that run on straight vegetable and waste vegetable oil however, these vehicles require a conversion.  This website will focus only on cars that do not require a conversion and run on biodiesel, not vegetable oil or waste vegetable oil.       

Brief History
The first diesel engine was developed in 1892 by Rudoplh C.K. Diesel. (Britannica Online Encyclopedia) The first diesel engine vehicle was powered by peanut oil.  Diesel developed the diesel engine so that it could be powered by both petroleum based fuel and plant based fuel.  As of late petroleum based diesel has been become synonymous with the diesel engine because petroleum based diesel has historically been so much cheaper than biodiesel fuel.  However, the recent increases in the price of petroleum have led to reemergence of biodiesel fuel.