Biodiesel Car - A fantasy or Reality?

So what exactly is a Biodiesel car, you might ask? You may have heard about electric or solar cars, but a biodiesel car? Is there anything like that out there?

In case you are wondering, hold on to your driver’s license because any diesel car is already a biodiesel car. That’s right. Biodiesel car is not some whacky new model just hitting the market but rather it is already “out there” as your very own diesel car. Infact, it might be interesting to know that the first commercial car built in 1909, was initially tested with vegetable oil and later with diesel to be released as a “diesel car” and not as a “Biodiesel car”.

In order to convert your current car into biodiesel vehicle nothing needs to be done except filling the tank with biodiesel instead of regular diesel.

In 2005, Chrysler became the first American company to release a “biodiesel car”. This car was released into the market under the name 2005 Jeep Liberty and it was specifically designed to run on B5, that is, a blend of Biodiesel and conventional petroleum based diesel consisting of 5 percent former and 95 percent latter.

B20 and B100 are the other commonly used blends of biodiesel fuels available in the market, though the cost is slightly less for B20. It’s possible to make any blend as per your liking; however, these are the commonly used commercial blends available in the market. It’s important to note here, that more the proportion of biodiesel in the blend, lesser will be the harmful effects of the final exhaust and hence the exhausts of B100 are far more environment friendly as compared to the exhausts of B20.

According to the national biodiesel board, fleets fueled at the central location are the largest consumers of biodiesels. Such fleets usually consist of national park, military bases, school district, bus systems and city fleets. The main reason for this is the 1992 Energy Policy act which mandates purchase of alternative fuels, such as biodiesels, for state and federal fleets. Biodiesel fuels can reduce as much as 10 percent dependency on conventional petroleum based products, according to the United States Department of Energy (DOE).

Many recent developments suggest a brighter future for biodiesel car revolution. Volkswagen has recently said that it will not void warranty on your vehicle simply because you used biodiesel in your car instead of regular diesel fuel. This is quite a big development considering the fact that Volkswagen happens to be the first one to catch on the biodiesel fuel drift. One can easily speculate similar advances from other auto giants to stay ahead in the competition.

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