The Basics of Biodiesel

October 15, 2006 · Filed Under Bio-Diesel, Fuels, Oil Industry, Oil Refining

From: DesMoines RegisterÂ

The idea that vegetable oil could be used as an engine fuel has been around for more than a century. But it wasn’t until the 1990s that commercial production of biodiesel began in the United States. Production has skyrocketed from under 1 million gallons in 1999 to 91 million gallons last year.

Biodiesel can be produced from palm, canola, cottonseed and other vegetable oils or from animal fats, including beef, pork or poultry. Research has even explored using algae. But the primary feedstock in America has been soybean oil. Iowa led the nation in soybean production four of the past five years, topping Illinois in all but 2003. Likewise, Iowa leads the nation in biodiesel production capacity, edging Texas, according to a September compilation from the National Biodiesel Board.

Diesel engines have long been attractive as a more powerful, fuel-efficient alternative to similar-sized gasoline engines – delivering 30 percent to 35 percent greater fuel efficiency. But the soot and smell were turnoffs for most American drivers. Today’s diesel fuel has cleaned up its act. Petroleum-based diesel meets the same emissions standards as gasoline. And biodiesel, while slightly less fuel efficient than petrodiesel, reduces emissions of several greenhouse gases.

Biodiesel represents a tiny percentage of overall diesel usage, however, and widespread use likely will be stymied by limits on supplies of soybean oil and other feedstocks and by biodiesel’s relatively high cost without hefty subsidies.

Consumer’s guide

Blends of biodiesel and petroleum are designated by B followed by the percentage of biodiesel. So B20 is 20 percent biodiesel, and B100 is pure biodiesel. Use of biodiesel in blends up to B20 requires no new equipment or modifications to your vehicle. Some care is urged with the initial switch to biodiesel, because it can loosen deposits that petrodiesel builds up in fuel systems.

Engine performance: Even 1 percent or 2 percent blends of biodiesel can improve lubricity of diesel fuels. The required move to ultra-low-sulfur petroleum diesel, which has poor lubricating properties, might create significant demand for biodiesel as an additive.

Like petroleum-based diesel, biodiesel has the ability to autoignite, quantified by a high cetane index – earning a somewhat higher number than conventional diesel, some studies show.

The biggest knock against biodiesel has been its cold-weather performance. As temperatures drop, both petrodiesel and biodiesel can form wax crystals that clog fuel lines and filters. At severe temperatures, diesel fuel turns into a gel and can’t be pumped. Biodiesel’s cold-weather performance is even worse than conventional diesel’s. Consumer perceptions weren’t helped when B2 users experienced plugging of fuel filters last fall in Minnesota, which as of 2005 required most diesel sold in the state to contain at least 2 percent biodiesel.

Distributors and drivers historically have overcome cold-flow problems with conventional diesel by adding kerosene or cold-flow additives, using fuel-line heaters or storing vehicles indoors. Biodiesel advocates believe that more experience with appropriate blends and strict quality control can address cold-flow problems.

Mileage: Pure biodiesel contains 8 percent less energy per gallon than typical petrodiesel, according to the Department of Energy. “If you are using B20, the difference in power, torque and fuel economy should be between 1 percent and 2 percent, depending on the diesel with which you are blending,” according to the DOE’s 2004 Biodiesel Handling and Use Guidelines. “Most users report little difference between B20 and No. 2 diesel fuel.”

Price: In mid-October, Krueger’s Amoco stations in Des Moines were selling B10 for $2.39 a gallon. The Iowa average for diesel was $2.50.5, according to AAA.

The nation

In 2005, U.S. plants produced 91 million gallons of biodiesel.

That’s only 0.15% of the 60 billion gallons of diesel used annually. (Comparatively, the United States used about 140 billion gallons of gasoline.)

Production is expected to more than double this year.

Iowa

The state had six operating biodiesel plants as of mid-October, representing 93.5 million gallons of production capacity, according to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. Eight plants are under construction, and one plant is being expanded, which will increase production capacity to 223 million gallons. Other plants are on the drawing boards. As of September, Iowa’s production capacity represented 19 percent of the national total, according to a separate compilation from the National Biodiesel Board.

Computerized operating procedures result in the need for relatively few employees to operate each plant. As an example, Renewable Energy Group’s plant in Wall Lake, with a production capacity of 30 million gallons, employs about 30 people. There’s rollover economic impact, of course, as those employees spend their paychecks, as technicians service the plant and as the plant buys supplies.

There’s not necessarily a direct tie between the plant and nearby farmers. Some soybean oil used at the plant is shipped in by rail from out of state. A January study for the Iowa Soybean Association projected that biodiesel-fueled growth in demand would push up farm-level prices an average of 9.5 cents a bushel over the next five years. Iowa elevator bids for soybeans ranged from $4.71 to $5.12 a bushel in mid-October.

However, plants are built to accommodate a variety of feedstocks. So theoretically Iowa’s biodiesel plants could move away from soybeans if another feedstock proves cheaper.

The world

In Europe, diesel engines power about half of new cars. Likewise, the European Union has raced ahead of the United States in biodiesel production, making nearly 13 times as much in 2005, according to Reuters News Service. Germany produced about half the European Union’s total. The EU, seeking to reduce its dependence on imported oil and cut auto emissions, has set targets for biofuels to replace 5.75 percent of transportation fuels in member states by 2010, according to Reuters.

Other major biodiesel players are Australia and China. China, with its widespread use of trucks, consumes twice as much diesel as gasoline, according to the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. It hopes to use biofuels to meet 15 percent of its transportation-energy needs by 2020. But production of biodiesel is lagging because it lacks feedstocks. China is a net importer of edible vegetable oils. Long term, it needs to plant oil crops such as rapeseed or produce biodiesel from animal fats.

Air quality

Biodiesel reduces global-warming gas emissions such as carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons, as well as particulate matter over a wide range of blends, regardless of feedstock used. Pure biodiesel can remove as much as 90 percent of these air toxics, and B20 can achieve 20 percent to 40 percent reductions.

However, biodiesel has been shown to increase nitrogen oxide. Research is ongoing into the extent that nitrogen-oxide emissions would increase ground-level ozone or whether blends with other materials could reduce the nitrogen oxide.

Another environmental plus: Because biodiesel is biodegradable, it can fuel ships and be pumped in sensitive environments without risking toxic spills.

Energy balance

Considerable research has probed whether renewable fuels burn more fossil fuels in their production than they give off when burned. A July report for the National Academy of Sciences found that biodiesel yields 93 percent more energy than the fossil energy invested in its production. That’s much better than ethanol, which has a plus-25 percent energy balance, and both are better than gasoline. The calculations include everything from the fertilizer used to grow the soybeans to the fuel used to plant, harvest and transport the crop.

Sustainability

Ideally, the world’s future fuel choices will be ecologically sustainable. The report for the National Academy of Sciences set these conditions for viable alternatives to petroleum-based fuels: “…A biofuel should provide a net energy gain, have environmental benefits, be economically competitive, and be producible in large quantities without reducing food supplies.”

Biodiesel rates better than corn-grain ethanol by yielding a better energy balance and greater reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions, the report found. Soybeans produce less runoff of nitrogen, phosphorus and pesticide than corn, and the conversion of biomass to fuel takes far less energy with soybean biodiesel than corn-grain ethanol. However, “neither biofuel can replace much petroleum without impacting food supplies,” the report said.

Biodiesel’s challenges

Price-competitiveness: Biodiesel production enjoys heftier subsidies than ethanol, and it remains questionable whether biodiesel can be cost-competitive with conventional diesel without them. Blenders receive a $1 federal tax credit per gallon of gasoline made from oil crops and animal fats, and there’s a 10-cents-a-gallon small-producer income-tax credit. (Comparatively, the federal tax credit for ethanol is 51 cents.) Government loans and grants also have financed plant construction. Iowa this spring approved subsidies as well, including a 3-cent-per-gallon credit and cost-share grants for retail infrastructure.

Engineers, plant operators and agronomists continue work to reduce feedstock and production costs and improve plant genetics to produce higher oil yields.

Related products also figure into the industry’s economics. Soybean meal – what’s left after soybeans are crushed to produce oil – is a high-protein animal feed that can be consumed by poultry, hogs and beef and dairy cattle. But it must compete for market share and price against the distillers dried grains produced by ethanol plants.

Also, a key byproduct, glycerin, is separated from the oil during processing. As the biodiesel industry has taken off, the market is awash in glycerin. Research that develops greater demand and higher prices for glycerin also could benefit industry margins.

Availability of feedstock: Demand for biodiesel is strong, and the overall U.S. market for diesel fuel is huge. But there simply aren’t enough oil crops and animal fats available to supplant much of it. For the 2005/06 crop year, biodiesel production accounted for 5 percent of soybean-oil use. That’s expected to rise to 13 percent for 2006/07, representing about 8 percent of U.S. soybean production in 2006, according to testimony by Keith Collins, USDA chief economist, before a Senate committee last month. It becomes a vicious cycle: Increased biodiesel demand is expected to push up prices for soybean oil, which in turn raises production costs, making biodiesel less price-competitive.

Information compiled by Carol Hunter, The Register.Read Original Article…