How do the benefits of ethanol and biodiesel compare?
According to the National Academy of Sciences, biodiesel produces more usable energy and reduces greenhouse gases more than corn-based ethanol. Is biodiesel used as a pure fuel or is it blended with petroleum diesel? Biodiesel contains no petroleum, but, like ethanol, it can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel in any percentage to create a biodiesel blend. Biodiesel containing no petroleum is called “Neat” biodiesel. In reference, biodiesel is designated by the letter B and a number representing the percent of the fuel that is biodiesel. The rest of the fuel is petroleum diesel. For example, a mixture of 20% biodiesel and 80% petroleum diesel, a commonly used ratio, would be labeled B20. B20 has demonstrated significant environmental benefits with a minimum increase in cost for consumers. Is biodiesel production efficient? Biodiesel actually has the highest “energy balance” of any transportation fuel. For every unit of fossil energy it takes to make biodiesel, 3.2 units of en
