What is Bio-diesel?

Well, Bio-diesel is the future. Because it is so clean burning and easy to use, bio-diesel is the fastest growing and most cost efficient fuel being created today.

Bio-diesel is a form of Bio-fuel made by ripping apart the fat molecule to release three free fatty acid esters, and a sugar called glycerol. Bio-diesel is produced from the fatty acid molecules found in numerous feedstock oils such as plant, animal, and recycled cooking oils. The fundamental chemical reaction process that produces bio-diesel is relatively simple and has the potential to be adopted worldwide.

Bio-diesel is described as mono-alkyl esters of long-chain fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or animal fats, conforming to ASTM D6751 specifications for use in diesel engines. Bio-diesel is a processed fuel derived from biological sources that can be used in diesel vehicles with little or no modification. It is a renewable fuel that can be used instead of diesel fuel, that is made from petroleum.

Bio-diesel is most often blended with petroleum diesel in ratios of 2 percent (B2), 5 percent (B5), or 20 percent (B20). A naturally grown, alternative fuel source it is a clean burning alternative fuel, produced from domestically grown, renewable resources. Bio-diesel is simple to use, biodegradable, non-toxic, and basically free of sulfur compounds and aromatics.

Bio-diesel is the only alternative fuel for motor vehicles to have fully completed the health effects testing requirements of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. And is one of the most rigorously tested alternative fuels on the market.

The CO2 released into the atmosphere when bio-diesel is burned is recycled by growing plants, which are later processed into fuel. Tests and demonstrations, have shown that bio-diesel is no different from petroleum diesel in terms of engine performance and wear.

Bio-diesel is being used across the U.S. in fleets of snowplows, garbage trucks, mail trucks, and military vehicles. In Hawaii all bio-diesel is made from used cooking oil collected from restaurants, making it a 100% recycled fuel, and keeping it out of landfills. Bio-diesel is also extensively used in Europe, especially Germany and France.

Diesel vehicles are generally the most long lasting reliable vehicles on the road, with most engines lasting over 400,000 miles. The best part of running Bio Diesel is that no wars need to be fought over it, it's entirely domestic, supports farming, it's totally renewable, often recycled, and it cuts almost all aspects of a diesel vehicle's emissions by more than 50 to 75%.

In a quest to help keep our air, rivers, streams, lakes and oceans cleaner, not to mention help stop Global Warming, we are attempting to free ourselves from dependency on fossil fuels, and trying to make our planet a better place to live.

Now you know what bio-diesel is, and why so many are making the switch to a cheaper less polluting and more efficient way to power our future.

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