How To Grow Jatropha For Biodiesel

Plant’s description. Jatropha curcas L. is found throughout the Philippines. In fact, different regions have their own common name for jatropha. In the Tagalog region, it is known as tubang bakod, tuba and sambo. Among the Bicolanos, it is called tuba and tuba-tuba; in Pangasinan and Nueva Ecija, it is called tagumbao; tawa-tawa in Ilocos … Read More

Fuel-Related Characteristics of Plant Oils

There are a number of physical and chemical characteristics of plant oils that affect their suitability as fuels. These include the heating value, pour point, cloud point, flash point, iodine value, viscosity, density, and cetane number. The characteristics that directly affect the efficiency of the fuel and the performance of the engine are summarized in … Read More

Environmental and Social Impacts of Biofuels

The combustion of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas has been identified as a major cause of the increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere. Carbon dioxide and other so-called greenhouse gases (e.g., methane) allow solar energy to enter the earth’s atmosphere but reduce the amount of energy … Read More

Production of Biodiesel

Biodiesel is produced through a series of physical and chemical processing of the fruits, seeds, or parts of oil-containing plants. The first step usually involves the extraction of the crude oil. This step may involve several different types of operations or processes depending on the kind of feedstock. For example, the process of extracting crude … Read More

Feedstock for Biofuels

The various feedstocks that can be used for the production of biofuels may be classified into three groups: cellulosic biomass, sugar and starchy crops, and oil-containing or oil-producing plants. The first group of feedstock is cellulosic biomass. It is the type of feedstock that is increasingly becoming important for the production of biofuels. Its attractiveness … Read More

What Are Biofuels?

Biofuels are fuels derived from biomass. Biomass is organic matter taken from or produced by plants and animals. It comprises mainly wood, agricultural crops and products, aquatic plants, forestry products, wastes and residues, and animal wastes. In its most general meaning, biofuels are all types of solid, gaseous and liquid fuels that can be derived … Read More

Benefits Of Biodiesel Instruction

Environmental Benefits In 2000, biodiesel became the only alternative fuel in the country to have successfully completed the EPA-required Tier I and Tier II health effects testing under the Clean Air Act. These independent tests conclusively demonstrated biodiesel’ s significant reduction of virtually all regulated emissions, and showed biodiesel does not pose a threat to … Read More

Trends In Global Biofuels Production

Initial efforts to produce biofuels date back to the early days of the automobile. However, they were quickly replaced as the fuel of choice by cheap petrol, which continued relatively unchallenged until the oil crisis of the 1970s, inducing governments to explore alternatives sources of fuel. In 1975 the Brazilian Government launched the PROALCOOL Programme … Read More

Biofuels Introduction

Biofuels are products that can be processed into liquid fuels for either transport or heating purposes. Bioethanol is produced from agricultural products including starchy and cereal crops such as sugarcane, corn, beets, wheat, and sorghum. Biodiesel is made from oil- or tree-seeds such as rapeseed, sunflower, soya, palm, coconut or jatropha. Although efforts to produce … Read More

Washing Biodiesel

After biodiessel is produced, there are several impurities present in the raw fuel that must be removed before it can be used safely. Biodiesel washing can be achieved by several methods, such as water washing or dry washing. Washing biodiesel with water is time consuming. After water wash, the biodiesel fuel still needs to be … Read More