Biodiesel Basics
Biodiesel is a renewable, biodegradable fuel that can be manufactured domestically from vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled restaurant grease. It is a cleaner-burning replacement for petroleum diesel fuel.
Biodiesel is a liquid fuel often referred to as B100 or neat biodiesel in its pure, unblended form. Like petroleum diesel, biodiesel is used to fuel compression-ignition engines, which run on petroleum diesel. See the table for biodiesel’s physical characteristics.
How well biodiesel performs in cold weather depends on the blend of biodiesel. The smaller the percentage of biodiesel in the blend, the better it performs in cold temperatures. Regular No. 2 diesel and B5 perform about the same in cold weather. Both biodiesel and No. 2 diesel have some compounds that crystallize in very cold temperatures. In winter weather, fuel blenders and suppliers combat crystallization by adding a cold flow improver. For the best cold weather performance, users should work with their fuel provider to ensure the blend is appropriate.
Biodiesel can be blended and used in many different concentrations. The most common are: B100 (pure biodiesel), B20 (20% biodiesel, 80% petroleum diesel), B5 (5% biodiesel, 95% petroleum diesel) and B2 (2% biodiesel, 98% petroleum diesel). Click here to learn more.
Source: Alternative Fuels Data Center