BIODIESEL
BIODIESEL'S ORIGINS IN THE US

BIODIESEL ORIGINS IN THE US

In the 1980s there was university research in Iowa and Montana on conversion of vegetable oils to a new fuel that we have come to call “biodiesel”. It is made very simply by reacting methanol (wood alcohol) and lye with oils and fats. Vegetable oils cost typically over $3/gallon so they did not seem an attractive feedstock. I learned of this research in 1989 and wondered about making biodiesel from waste vegetable oil which has zero or negative value at its source.

In late 1989 I obtained a gallon of waste vegetable oil (ugh) from McDonalds and made a gallon of excellent biodiesel in my laboratory at the Colorado School of Mines. I contacted the Denver bus company to see if they were interested and they said they would like to test it if I made 100 gallons. In early 1990, I bought 100 gallons of “yellow grease” from the renderers that collect it and converted it to biodiesel at the Colorado School of Mines operations laboratory.

We took our two barrels of biodiesel to the Denver RTD bus company and they tested both 20% blends (significant reduction in emissions) and 100% biodiesel, first in a bus on a dynamometer, then in a city bus. The fuel was at least as good as conventional diesel and the emissions were significantly lower. They were very interested.

But there was no fuel crunch in 1990. The board of directors was changed and RTD lost interest. Other tests were conducted around the country and confirmed that biodiesel from new or used vegetable oil had equal efficiency and lower emissions than conventional diesel. But it has taken 15 years for biodiesel to have a significant impact on our diesel fuel consumption.

I have been involved with Biodiesel for a number of years, and here is a bit more, from my past writings, about biodiesel.

In Summer, 1989, I learned about the conversion of animal fats and vegetable oils to their methyl esters for fuel purposes from some proceedings of the US Dept of Agriculture workshops held in the early 1980s and from research at the University of Idaho and others. The process is called "Transesterification", and is quite simple. It means converting the fats or oils, which are tri-esters with glycerol, to the monoester with methanol. Being interested in alternate fuels, I mulled this over in my subconscious and in November, 1989, I wondered what happened to all that good oil/fat when it was "used up". I found that there are about a billion gallons a year under the heading "yellow grease" which are used for soap, cattle feed, but has a very low value (<$1/gallon) relative to new oil/fat.

I wondered if it could be used to make the esters for fuel. I went to our local McDonalds and got a gallon of "waste grease" from their grease dumpster in back, (UGH!). In my lab at the Colorado School of Mines I made minor adjustments in the transesterification recipe and made a gallon of beautiful fuel from (UGH) grease. Wow! As a chemist I had a wonderful time for the next few months making "transesterified waste vegetable oil" from many feedstocks. I even made it from bacon grease at Christmas in my daughter-in-law's kitchen from grocery store components.

If you are the kind that likes contact with reality, why not make some Bio-diesel in the kitchen. Just print out the file (found in our Scientific Papers section) and GO. Be sure your fat/oil is dry. Bacon grease and butter contain too much water unless you boil it off and render them to a clear oil (ghee for butter).

At that time the DENVER RTD bus company was considering alternate bus fuels. We approached the bus company to see if they were interested in this alternative clean fuel. Sure, but they needed more than a gallon to test. I went to our UNIT OPS laboratory at the Colorado School of Mines and made 100 gallons (2 drums) for testing by RTD.

I didn't think "transesterified waste vegetable oil" was a very good name, so, considering the source, I decided to call it McDIESEL. I applied for a copyright. I even approached McDonalds to see if they were interested. They were, but said they would sue me if I used that name. Later people came to call these fuels "BIODIESEL", and I now live with that. However, I would love to have had McDonalds sue me - what publicity!

We discovered that there was NO political base for using low cost waste grease for an alternate fuel. There was a tremendous base for spending much more money to make Biodiesel from Soy Oil. Now biodiesel is highly political and there is a newsletter telling of test results and new companies hoping for government subsidies courtesy of global warming. Check them out at www.biodiesel.org.

In February 1990 we tested the fuel on a dynamometer and a bus and it ran fine and had low emissions. We have published a number of papers on Biodiesel from waste grease, but no one is particularly interested. (That seems to be changing circa 2005!) Meanwhile biodiesel from soy is still $3-4/gal.

If you are interested in making some biodiesel, our recipe for making it in the kitchen with easily available materials can be found in the Scientific Papers section of the Renewable Hydrogen Website.