The Advantages Of Using Biodiesel Blends

By: Ron Petracek

Biodiesel blends are becoming more essential to the every day operation of farm vehicles and machinery, trucks, buses and boats both big and small. This is because there are a slew of advantages to using one of the designer fuel biodiesel fuel blends on the market.

First of all any substance that helps reduce the U.S. dependence on foreign fossil fuel oils can't help but be a good thing. This is particularly true in the United States, which has resorted to a fair amount of aggression to take control of the world's oil supplies. If you cut your gasoline or diesel with a biodiesel fuel blend such as fuel boost you are cutting down on your need to use foreign fossil fuels and creating jobs for Americans who grow the soy and canola that is used to make biodiesel blends.

Biodiesel can be used in a blend in many different kinds of existing diesel engines without modification. Biodiesel burns substantially cleaner than petroleum based diesel fuel in both vehicles and machinery.

·Biodiesel is carbon-neutral which means that its contribution to global warming is negligible compared to petroleum products. In addition to displacing imported petroleum, biodiesel blends reduce air pollution and greenhouse gases. A 1998 biodiesel lifecycle study, jointly sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, concluded biodiesel reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 78 percent (compared to petroleum diesel.) The CO² released into the atmosphere when biodiesel burned is recycled by plants, which produce more oxygen.

Biodiesel is a lubricant that reduces wear and tear on engine parts by almost one half! In fact it is already added to many petrodiesel fuels to increase the lubricity of diesel engines and fuel systems. It is also a solvent that can help keep your system clean.

Sick of seeing black smoke flume out from your exhaust. Biodiesel burns cleaner and produces less smoke. The smoke it does produce is white as opposed to back. The exhaust from biodiesel also smells better. People say it reminds them of the smell of popcorn or French fries.

Biodiesel is the only alternative fuel to have fully completed the health effects testing requirements of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments as biodiesel produces less sulfur emissions than regular diesel.

However biodiesel is still not that widely available commercially. Still the consumption of biodiesel has greatly increased since 2001. This is why so many people are ordering their own car conversion "grease car" kits or home brewing systems to make their own biodiesel.

If you have an older machine, then there is a chance that using a biodiesel fuel additive such as FuelBoost could have the effect of cleaning or thinning old petroleum from the walls of your fuel lines and clog up your engine.

Biodiesel in a pure form (such as B100) has a high gelling point compared to other fuels. This means that it thickens when the temperature falls below the freezing point (32 F). However there are solutions to this such as using a blend of biodiesel called B20. B20 is a blend of 20% biodiesel and 80% regular diesel and has a gelling point of -15 degrees F. Adding a biodiesel additive such as Fuel Boost to the blend also lowers the gel point even further so that your fuel lines don't clog up in the winter.

Mileage and Fuel
 • 
 • 
 • 
 • 
 • 
 • 
 • 
 • 
 • 
 • 
 • 
 • 
 • 
 • 
 • 
 • 
 • 
 • 
 • 
 • 

» More on Mileage and Fuel