Biofuel production

Biodiesel is an alternative to petroleum diesel. A much cleaner and cheaper alternative that can be made by anybody with no chemistry or other specialised training needed. Lindersvold started producing biodiesel this year in a small scale.

Biodiesel is an alternative to petroleum diesel. A much cleaner and cheaper alternative and that can be made in a small scale by anybody with no chemistry or other specialised training or degree needed.

Lindersvold started producing biodiesel this year in a small scale from new vegetable oil. The plan is to change to used vegetable oil when production achieves maturity enough and power its vehicles with a much more environmentally friendly fuel.

Biodiesel is permanently thinned plant- or animal-based oil, with a viscosity approximating that of standard No. 2 diesel fuel. The fuel is called biodiesel because it is made from mostly biodegradable materials and can be used as fuel in diesel engines. It can be used neat, meaning 100-percent biodiesel, or it can be blended with regular petroleum diesel.

Biodiesel can also be used in boilers or generators and the main ingredient for preparing biodiesel is vegetables oil or animal fat. With the growth of use of biodiesel going on, there is a growing need for the main biodiesel resources which are the seeds like canola, corn, soy among many others, traits that makes biodiesel production also very useful in Africa. The growing demand of biodiesel resources enables the agriculture in general and the farmers in particular to have another market to sell to.

Checking all energy alternatives of fuel for diesel engines there is an absolute one conclusion that comes to mind. Each alternative to petrodiesel fuel requires adjustments and modifications, sometimes it is in the fuel injection system and sometimes another tank should be installed. The only exception is biodiesel. Also, the use of biodiesel in a conventional diesel engine results in substantial reduction of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter. The use of biodiesel decreases the solid carbon fraction of particulate matter (since the oxygen in biodiesel enables more complete combustion to CO2), eliminates the sulfate fraction (as there is no sulfur in the fuel), while the soluble, or hydrocarbon, fraction stays the same or is increased.

One more point in favour of biodiesel is that the flash point (the point at which fuel ignites) for biodiesel in its pure form is a minimum of 94 degrees (200 F) versus about 52 degrees Celsius (125 F) for regular No. 2 diesel. This makes biodiesel one of the safest fuels to use, handle and store. Another advantage of biodiesel over the other energy alternatives is the mileage per gallon.

The logic is, if you can grow your own diesel fuel, you don't need to buy it from someone else. Biodiesel can help reduce our dependence on crude oil. Biodiesel is surely a viable fuel alternative and it is also a sustainable fuel. Using biodiesel fuel not only helps maintain our environment, it also helps in keeping the people around us healthy. At Lindersvold you will have the opportunity to learn how to make homebrewed biodiesel, take this skill with you to Africa and put it to good use as well as help the DRH Movement improve the environmental conditions of our world.

By Paulo Cavallo (August team 2010)