Many of us have frequently heard of biodiesel fuels. The buzz about biodiesel is increasing do to the increase of the price of diesel at the pump along with the green movement. Although many people may be familiar with the word biodiesel, really understanding what it is can be a completely different matter.

Lets start with the vegetable oil base.  There are two parts of the vegetable oil we are intersted in the first is the actual biodiesel the alkyl esters.  The second part is the glycerin. A chemical process called transesterification separates these two compounds part from each other. Glycerin is the byproduct of biodiesel production. It can be further purified and cleaned up and used in soaps and in other applications. The alkyl esters are used in the biodiesel.

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Not all vehicles can run off of biodiesel though. For example don’t ever put biodiesel into a gas engine.  This would cause a lot of devistation to your engine and cost you a ton of money to fix. Diesel engines are the only engines that can burn biodiesel. Biodiesel can either be burned straight or it can be mixed in with petrolium based diesel. Blends that are sold commercially are typically labeled B20 for example; this means that the blend contains 20% biodiesel. Some diesel engines can run on straight biodiesel with little to no modifications.

100% biodiesel can be made at home so this an be an advantage for some people. Please be aware that some car manufacturers will void your warrently if you run straight biodiesel in your vehicle. That being said, if you are interested in making your own biodiesel, there are some great @@CBTEXT;GRNEBOOKS;resources to learn to do so online@@. There are a number of benefits besides your pocket book to consider biodiesel blends. Biodiesel is more environmentally sound because it is burned more completely then petrolium based diesel. Also, the biodiesel helps to lubricate the parts of your engine better then straight petroleum based diesel. Finally by using blends you stretch out the non-renewable fuel longer then it would have gone if you were burning straight petroleum diesel in your engine.