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What are Biofuels?
Biofuels are liquid transportation fuels made from plants and other forms of biomass. There are two main types of biofuels: Ethanol is a gasoline-type fuel made by fermenting sugars into alcohol. Biodiesel is a diesel-type fuel made by separating glycerin from animal and vegetable oil to create methyl esters.
Biofuels can reduce costly petroleum imports, cut greenhouse gas emissions, increase farm income, and boost rural development. .
What is a biodiesel blend?
In most cases, biodiesel is mixed with conventional diesel because of the higher cost of biodiesel, engine compatibility issues, and cold weather operating concerns. Common blends are B20, or 20% biodiesel and B2, or 2% biodiesel. The environmental benefits of using biodiesel scales with the percent of biodiesel contained in the blend.
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B100 – 100% biodiesel offers the most overall environmental benefits. Use of B100 may require engine or fuel system component modification and can cause operating problems, especially in cold weather.
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B20 – 20% biodiesel offers about one fifth of the environmental benefits of B100, but can be more broadly applied to existing engines with little or no modification.
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B2 – 2% biodiesel offers little environmental or petroleum dependence benefit and could be potentially used an environmental marketing tool.
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New Biodiesel Cars
Ethanol is a clean-burning, high-octane fuel that is produced from renewable sources. At its most basic, ethanol is grain alcohol, produced from crops such as corn. Because it is domestically produced, ethanol helps reduce America's dependence upon foreign sources of energy.
Pure, 100% ethanol is not generally used as a motor fuel; instead, a percentage of ethanol is combined with unleaded gasoline. This is beneficial because the ethanol:
Any amount of ethanol can be combined with gasoline, but the most common blends are:
E10 - 10% ethanol and 90% unleaded gasoline
E10 is approved for use in any make or model of vehicle sold in the U.S. Many automakers recommend its use because of its high performance, clean-burning characteristics. In 2004, about one-third of America's gasoline was blended with ethanol, most in this 10% variety.
E85 - 85% ethanol and 15% unleaded gasoline
E85 is an alternative fuel for use in flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs). There are currently more than 4 million FFVs on America's roads today, and automakers are rolling out more each year. In conjunction with more flexible fuel vehicles, more E85 pumps are being installed across the country. When E85 is not avaialble, these FFVs can operate on straight gasoline or any ethanol blend up to 85%.
It is important to note that it does not take a special vehicle to run on "ethanol". All vehicles can use E10 with no modifications to the engine. E85 is for use in a flexible fuel vehicle, so some people confuse "ethanol" with the blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline.
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