How we get there

The first thing to do is to reduce the number of diesel vehicles we need to be powering with biodiesel and replacing them with plug-in hybrids or full electric vehicles. Taking that into account, we need to address the issues of the current biodiesel to cause it to be more widely accepted and available and to be less harmful to the environment. This section below addresses each of the disadvantages of biodiesel discussed in the Where We Are section and discusses how to either help overcome these disadvantages or why they should be dismissed. Also keep in mind the huge number of advantages of biodiesel can over petroleum diesel. This is something that is worth working towards.

Automaker Warranties

There are some automakers that will allow up to B20 or even B100 and there are groups working to get all OEMs to agree to allowing B20 blends. This is something that will take time and with some pushing from the diesel community will eventually get fixed. This is one of those issues where individuals who wish to use biodiesel can be very powerful.

Lower Fuel Economy

There is about a 10% reduction in energy output of a gallon of biodiesel compared to petroleum diesel, lowering the range on a single tank of fuel, but the energy used to produce the biodiesel is less, so as long as drivers get used to needing to fill up a little more frequently, this should not be a problem.

Cost

Biodiesel costs are likely to come down as it is produced in larger quantities and better distribution systems. A large part of the higher cost now comes from the fact that there are no distribution pipelines yet.

NOx Emissions

The fact that biodiesel reduces other smog precursors causes it to reduce ozone forming potential of diesel fuel by nearly 50% compared to petroleum diesel fuel

Temperature Problems

The temperature problem of biodiesel, which causes it to gel at low temperatures will need to be addressed in research for future feedstocks. The longterm solution in cold climates may include some fuel tank heating.

Engine Durability

The engine durability issue is one mostly tied to engines that were produced before the early 1990s, and so is becoming less and less of an issue on its own.

Water Interactions

Water problems can be solved by better production and distribution technologies that ensure more pure biodiesel is produced and that distribution does not allow the fuel to pick up water.

Food vs. Fuel

This is the big one. Despite having most current feedstocks be co-products of food sources, this will not make enough biodiesel for the petroleum diesel we need to displace. There is also the fear that even though the current feedstocks are co-products of food, they could be raising the value of that food and causing farmers to plant more of it than they should, raising prices and lowering the availability of other food crops. This is better than if the whole plant product were needed for biodiesel production, as is the case with corn ethanol, but even more ideal would be planting on marginal lands or not planting anything at all as a feedstock.

Check out the future research of the Where We Need To Be section to check out some of the new feedstocks that may help with food vs. fuel issues. We need to have something other than vegetable oils as a feedstock in order to make biodiesel better than petroleum diesel.