All three options can be used with vegetable oils, animal fat or both (it doesn’t matter if you use fresh or used oils):

• You can use the oil as it is
• You can mix the oil with another chemical supplement like kerosene, or gasoline or petroleum etc.
• You can convert the oil to biodiesel

Using the oil as it is can be clean and effective. Not to mention cheap also. But you have to make modifications to the diesel engine so that it is optimized for vegetable oil. You can find pre-modified diesel engines where you can use petro diesel, biodiesel and pure vegetable oil in any combination. There are engines with separate fuel tanks and a switch, you fill one tank with vegetable oil and the other tank with original petroleum diesel. Then you just turn on the engine using the tank with the original petroleum diesel and after a while you switch to the tank with the vegetable oil.

Mixing the oil with other supplements is your second option. Because vegetable oil is thick you mix it with a different type of fuel to make it thinner so that it flows easily into the combustion chamber of your diesel engine. Remember that using petroleum or kerosene to mix the vegetable oil, is not a clean option though. You can make various mixes (for example 20% vegetable oil and 80% of another diesel fuel). Some claim that if you use such a mix you have to preheat the engine, others just start the engine and go without preheating.

Your final option (and by far the best, in my opinion) is to convert the vegetable oil into biodiesel. Because biodiesel works in any diesel engine without the need to make any conversion or modifications to the fuel system or the engine itself. Just fill and go. Biodiesel is a much safer, clean, ready to use fuel that’s well tested. This option unlike the other two is backed by thousands of short-term and long-term research and tests by scientists around the world.

The Original Post is Located Here: How to Make Biodiesel: the Three Choices of Using Biofuel

Woody Biomass

Biomass power is the largest source of renewable energy as well as a vital part of the waste management infrastructure. An increasing global awareness about environmental issues is acting as the driving force behind the use of alternative and renewable sources of energy. A greater emphasis is being laid on the promotion of bioenergy in the industrialized as well as developing world to counter environmental issues.

Biomass may be used for energy production at different scales, including large-scale power generation, CHP, or small-scale thermal heating projects at governmental, educational or other institutions. Biomass comes from both human and natural activities and incorporates by-products from the timber industry, agricultural crops, forestry residues, household wastes, and wood. The resources range from corn kernels to corn stalks, from soybean and canola oils to animal fats, from prairie grasses to hardwoods, and even include algae. The largest source of energy from wood is pulping liquor or black liquor, a waste product from the pulp and paper industry.

Woody biomass is the most important renewable energy source if proper management of vegetation is ensured. The main benefits of woody biomass are as follows:

• Uniform distribution over the world’s surface, in contrast to finite sources of energy.
• Less capital-intensive conversion technologies employed for exploiting the energy potential.
• Attractive opportunity for local, regional and national energy self-sufficiency.
• Techno-economically viable alternative to fast-depleting fossil fuel reserves.
• Reduction in GHGs emissions.
• Provide opportunities to local farmers, entrepreneurs and rural population in making use of its sustainable development potential.

The United States is currently the largest producer of electricity from biomass having more than half of the world’s installed capacity. Biomass represents 1.5% of the total electricity supply compared to 0.1% for wind and solar combined. More than 7800 MW of power is produced in biomass power plants installed at more than 350 locations in the U.S., which represent about 1% of the total electricity generation capacity. According to the International Energy Agency, approximately 11% of the energy is derived from biomass throughout the world.

Biomass Resources
Biomass processing systems constitute a significant portion of the capital investment and operating costs of a biomass conversion facility depending on the type of biomass to be processed as well as the feedstock preparation requirements. Its main constituents are systems for biomass storage, handling, conveying, size reduction, cleaning, drying, and feeding. Harvesting biomass crops, collecting biomass residues, and storing and transporting biomass resources are critical elements in the biomass resource supply chain.

All processing of biomass yields by-products and waste streams collectively called residues, which have significant energy potential. A wide range of biomass resources are available for transformation into energy in natural forests, rural areas and urban centres. Some of the sources have been discussed in the following paragraphs:

A host of natural and human activities contributes to the biomass feedstock

1. Pulp and paper industry residues
The largest source of energy from wood is the waste product from the pulp and paper industry called black liquor. Logging and processing operations generate vast amounts of biomass residues. Wood processing produces sawdust and a collection of bark, branches and leaves/needles. A paper mill, which consumes vast amount of electricity, utilizes the pulp residues to create energy for in-house usage.

The Original Post is Located Here: Woody Biomass Resources

Biodiesel from Plant Material

With the ever increasing cost of gasoline, many vehicles now run on the much more economical diesel fuel. However, with the growing push toward more environmentally friendly fuels for vehicles, are their any viable alternatives for diesel vehicle owners other than diesel fuel? Indeed there is and Biodiesel is making a big splash in the fuel industry.

Biodiesel is the name coined for the clean burning alternative fuel, produced from domestic, renewable resourcessuch as vegetable oils and is the only alternative fuel that can potentially be used directly in any existing, unmodified diesel engine. Because of its close similarity to diesel fuel, biodiesel can also be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a Biodiesel blend. Biodiesel is simple to use, biodegradable, nontoxic, and essentially free of sulfur and aromatics.

Biodiesel fuel is produced from any fat or oil through a refining process called trans-esterification. This process is a reaction of the oil with an alcohol to remove the glycerin, which is a by-product of biodiesel production.

Fuel-grade Biodiesel as an alternative fuel must be produced to strict industry specifications in order to ensure proper engine performance. Biodiesel is the only alternative fuel to have fully completed the health effects testing requirements of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments.

Biodiesel fuel that meets the industry specifications for an alternative fuel is legally registered with the Environmental Protection Agency as a legal motor fuel for sale and distribution. “Biodiesel” is standardized as mono-alkyl ester and other kinds of diesel-grade fuels of biological origin are not included. Raw vegetable oil cannot meet Biodiesel fuel specifications, it is not registered with the EPA, and it is not a legal motor fuel.

Biodiesel is the only alternative fuel to have fully completed the health effects testing requirements of the Clean Air Act. The use of Biodiesel in a conventional diesel engine results in substantial reduction of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter compared to emissions from diesel fuel. Plus the exhaust emissions of sulfur oxides and sulfates (major components of acid rain) from Biodiesel are essentially eliminated in comparison to regular diesel fuel.

Of the major exhaust pollutants, both unburned hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides are ozone or smog forming precursors and the use of Biodiesel as an alternative fuel results in a substantial reduction of unburned hydrocarbons. Emissions of nitrogen oxides are either slightly reduced or slightly increased depending on the duty cycle of the engine and testing methods used.

The use of Biodiesel fuel as an alternative to petroleum based fuel is really a step in the right direction when it comes to both environmental as well as economic concerns. It is safer, burns cleaner, and is easy to make.
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The Original Post is Located Here: Biodiesel – the Diesel Fuel Alternative