WHAT ARE THE EMISSIONS OF BIODIESEL COMPARED TO DIESEL?
As well as being biodegradable, biodiesel reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, tailpipe particulate matter (PM), hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions from most modern four stroke CI engines. In 2002, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a comprehensive technical report of biodiesel emissions data that showed biodiesel use can reduce emissions of particulate matter by 47 per cent when compared to petroleum diesel in unmodified diesel engines. The report also verified a 67 per cent reduction in unburned hydrocarbons and a 48 per cent reduction in carbon monoxide with pure biodiesel (B100). The use of B20 in a conventional diesel engine results in substantial reductions of unburned hydrocarbons (-20%), carbon monoxide (-12%) and particulate matter (-12%) when compared with emissions from diesel fuel. In addition, the exhaust emissions of sulfur oxides and sulfates (major components of acid rain) from biodiesel are essentially eliminated compared to diesel. E
