Can biodiesel help mitigate ‘global warming’?
Plants used to produce biodiesel draw CO2 from the air. At the end of the process cycle biodiesel is burned and the left over plant decomposes, returning the carbon back to the atmosphere as CO2, therefore, biodiesel on its own does not contribute to global warming. However, the CO2 from the petroleum fuel used for fertiliser, farm equipment and transportation during the production process accumulates in the atmosphere. Taking this into account, the net result is that biodiesel produces 78% less CO2 than fossil diesel.
