Is Vegetable Oil Diesel A Viable Fuel Option?
In the late 19th century, French born Rudolph Diesel invented an engine without spark plugs, and he used vegetable oil diesel to fuel it. Fossil fuels were cheaper than vegetable oils and so petroleum became the preferred fuel for the diesel engine.
But Rudolph Diesel was a forward thinker, and he told a group of British motor mechanics in 1912 that there might come a time when vegetable sources of oil would have the same importance as mineral oils.
Throughout the 20th century, there was some interest in vegetable oil diesel by car enthusiasts, who experimented with the fuel. There was also official research carried out, but mainly in response to petroleum shorages at the time. Throughout this time, biodiesel was usually preferred because it could be used without any modifications to the engine.
There are different types of vegetable oil that are suitable for use in diesel engines. There is waste vegetable oil, or WVO, that is collected from restaurants and food processing plants, after it has been used for frying food. Unused vegetable oils are referred to as straight vegetable oil, called SVO, or pure plant oil, also called PPO. This is to prevent confusion with biodiesel.
The most commonly used plant for vegetable oil diesel is the rapeseed, also called canola. There is research into using sunflower oil because of its lower freezing point. There are island nations in the South Pacific that use coconut oil diesel fuel, because of the ready availability of coconuts and the desire to be independent of the oil-rich countries. Coconut oil only works in warmer temperatures; above 17 degrees Celsius.
Vegetable oil diesel is not without its problems. Because of its thickness or viscosity, it may cause damage to the engine, especially in colder climates. Engine conversions and kits are available to make it possible to use the fuel safely and efficiently, and blends of regular diesel and vegetable oil diesel are also used.
The response from government, on the subject, varies from country to country. Some governements allow the fuel to be used, other have legislated against it, some have formal trials operating but there seems to be more concern over lost revenue in fuel taxes than in the fuel itself.
The availability of vegetable oil diesel remains a short-coming. There would appear to be many sources of waste vegetable oil, but straight vegetable oil has a variety of uses and so is in short supply for use as diesel fuel on a large scale. There remain a number of issues that need to be addressed before vegetable oil diesel fuel will be readily available.
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