Biodiesel – How burning fat is good for the environment
14 November 2007
When we announced our $14 million lead financing for BIOX Corp. this morning ($4 million was syndicated to existing Biox Investors, including VentureLink LP), some of our followers questioned how burning animal fats and recycled oils could possibly be beneficial to the environment.
Here’s a quick primer on the science behind the process:
First off, the feedstock / input undergoes a chemical reaction before it is pumped into tanks for use as a transportation fuel rather than being used directly.
Biodiesel can be made from virtually any fat or vegetable oil. These two substances are primarily made of “triglycerides”, an organic compound that combines glycerol with free fatty acid chains. Through a process called “transesterification”, in the presence of methanol, the fatty acid chains are broken away leaving a glycerol molecule (the basis of glycerin – a sugar alcohol) and ethyl esters of fatty acids (the basis of biodiesel). The reaction can be sped up in the presence of a catalyst.
As to how it can be better for our environment, consider the following:
- The biodiesel that results from the reaction above is quite pure – there isn’t the other “garbage” in the petrochemical stew that forms traditional diesel (which can lead to particulate emissions).
- With a move to a low-sulfur petrodiesel, one drawback is a decrease in the lubricity of the fuel (sulfur helps lubricate the engine components, leading to reduced wear-and-tear). Previously other additives may have been blended to improve viscosity but which themselves may be less than environmentally friendly. Enter biodiesel – when blended with traditional low-sulfur diesel, lubricity is improved, restoring the lubricating qualities that the sulfur originally provided.
- Some critics have pointed out that the combustion of biodiesel produces more CO2 emissions than petrodiesel. This is offset (and even reduced) however, if you differentiate the source of the CO2 emissions on the assumption that the emissions resulting from biodiesel come from recycled carbon already in the atmosphere / ecosystem (whether directly from plants (and their oils) or indirectly via animals consuming plants for energy, vs. fossil fuel CO2 emissions which have been locked away deep within the earth for millennia.
These are but three of the benefits that this popular fuel alternative provides – and why businesses such as BIOX are finding their product in increasing demand both by fleet managers as well as environmentally conscious individuals.
Other Biox investors include Birch Hill Equity Partners, a $1.7 billion Canadian merchant bank.
JN
One Response to “Biodiesel – How burning fat is good for the environment”
November 26th, 2007 at 1:00 am
Biodiesel can be made from virtually any fat or vegetable oil. These two substances are primarily made of “triglycerides”, an organic compound that combines glycerol with free fatty acid chains.