OP editorial

Will Biodiesel replace Diesel in my Lifespan!!

Abhijeet Chausalkar, Graduate Student, Iowa State University
Today, as a 35 year old man, I hope to live till the age of 85.This means that I have 50 more
years to feel and observe this world. I can at least hope to live long. But wait why am I
talking about the future 50 years? With some experience in fuel and combustion research, I
dont see biodiesel completely replacing diesel as transportation fuel in my complete lifespan.
Do I sound pessimistic about using this much hyped transportation alternate fuel, biodiesel?
According to Energy Information Administration (EIA) USA, by taking proven reserves and
the current rate of petroleum consumption in to account, global supply of crude oil is
expected to be adequate for the next 25 years. But they are sceptical about crude oil supply
for the total period of 50 years from now due to unavailability of proper reserve accounts.
Does this mean that we should immediately expedite the process of finding, producing and
using suitable biofuels in our vehicles? Answer is no. EIA did not imply complete extinction
of crude oil but just conveyed that they are simply unaware of any other petroleum reserves
present worldwide. To strengthen further, crude oil in continents like Africa, Australia are
relatively unexplored and thus present great opportunity of discovering more petroleum
reserves. Further, based on the EIA data on US Crude oil Reserves New Filed discoveries,
it is evident that new oil reserves have been discovered since 1980 and this process of
exploration is still going on. New discoveries add to the existing reserves of crude oil
reducing the chance of extinction. The whole point here is that there is a less possibility of
complete depletion of the crude oil and I can enjoy driving my classic diesel sedan at the old
age of 85.
What about the business and profits of the huge oil and gas companies? Present infrastructure
to produce, refine and transport the diesel fuel is well established worldwide and major
players such as BP, SHELL, have invested heavily to meet the growing demand. I was an
employee of a Fortune 500 oil company, Indian Oil, and being the part of such a huge
organisation I feel that oil companies have made huge profits over the years by exploring,
refining and catering to the needs of the mass population. Since business model of my
company was based on the availability and demand of diesel fuel. Therefore, the company
was strongly motivated to explore more crude oil reserves.
However, if biodiesel is seen as an alternative to diesel, similar infrastructure will be required
to produce, chemically treat, and supply biodiesel to the end user. Well established Bio
refineries are required to produce biodiesel using vegetable oil or non-edible oil as raw
source. These bio refineries are completely different from the conventional crude oil
refineries. Huge investment is required to establish a well-defined infrastructure, well to
wheel, which is impossible without strong motivation of replacing diesel by biodiesel. I dont

see such strong motivation building in the coming 50 years due to ample availability of diesel
fuel and lack of government policies.
Conducive policies by an aware government act as a strong motivation to build such
infrastructure. This is possible only when high level of confidence is established in using
biodiesel. To me, it appears as a rare possibility due to confusion of using biodiesel from
different perspectives, including; economic viability, carbon reduction, raw resource
availability and investment requirement. In my work span of nine years, I was a part of a
technical team responsible for forecasting the future 20 years of the company. Due to the
absence of real interest of the government in boosting the biodiesel sale and establishing it as
a diesel replacement fuel, our team did not propose production of 100 percent biodiesel in
India .We rather proposed to establish biodiesel production & distribution facility to meet the
demand of using 5% biodiesel and in extreme case 20 % biodiesel. In this case, our decision
was dominated by the money and efforts required for major infrastructure revival and policy
related approvals.
In my tenure, I did experienced the decreasing confidence of the investors in producing
biodiesel from Jatropha seeds. At a conclave meet on biodiesel in 2005, I remember fierce
burst of frustration during an interactive session between the biodiesel investors and the
government officials. Reason, the investors had invested a lot for producing biodiesel from
Jatropha. Except one oil company, no other public or private company was interested in
buying their biodiesel. This was simply a fatal consequence of missing policy and roadmap
for using biodiesel as transportation fuel. From this experience, I am of the opinion that not a
single big investor would like to waste his hard earned money in something which has no real
driver in terms of policy to accelerate its proliferation. Even if some government does get
proactive, the pace is slow and not enough to replace the diesel completely.
Before implementing policies, automakers will have to overcome different technical barriers
associated with using 100% biodiesel in the vehicles. As an engine testing expert, I can say
that you will face problems such as choked fuel injectors, lower mileage due to lower energy
content of biodiesel and degradation of engine oil if you use 100 percent biodiesel in your
unmodified diesel car. Presently, major auto manufacturers, Cummins and John deer, suggest
only using 2 -5% biodiesel. This means that to use tank full of biodiesel, automakers will
have to redesign and create a dedicated biodiesel engine. This will of course take time,
research efforts and money on their part. Not only engine modification is required but also
complete production facility which includes assembly line, testing facilities, quality assurance
will need a major revival.
Although, biodiesel on burning emits lower carbon related emissions but produces higher
smog causing substance, NOx, from the exhaust. Some sort of engine modification or after
treatment device will be required to mitigate harmful NOx emissions. Time is required to
research and fix an appropriate, optimum method and get approval as per the regulations
before commercially introducing the system in the vehicle.

I tested diesel engine oil for 1000 hrs using 5% biodiesel in a heavy duty truck diesel engine.
Based on my experience and other studies I can say that engine oil alteration and seal
compatibility is critical while using 100 percent biodiesel because biodiesel tend to
decompose seal material and contaminate engine oil. This puts additional pressure on oil
industry to develop engine oil suitable for use with biodiesel and test the oil before
commercially launching in the market. Furthermore, you cannot store biodiesel for more than
six months since gum formation takes place generating the need of modifying biodiesel to
prevent such phenomena. This will require additional time and investment delaying
replacement of diesel.
Complete replacement of biodiesel will require balance in its supply and demand. Currently,
biodiesel is produced either using plant derived oils or algae. Requirement of large land area
and dependence on agricultural conditions can limit supply of biodiesel derived from plant
derived oil. Studies show that production of biodiesel from micro algae is still in nascent
stage and many concerns such as high cost, return of investment, sustainability factor are still
to be answered satisfactorily. Major research work is required to completely understand the
production of biodiesel from microalgae. Adequate supply of biodiesel to meet the growing
demand is a major hurdle in completely replacing diesel by biodiesel. I know that finding a
research solution is possible and can be expedited but still time and motivation is required to
prove the feasibility of using a specific production method on a commercial scale.
Food security concerns have hovered right from the time the concept of biodiesel was
introduced in the market. Even with the use of third generation biodiesel derived from algae,
there will be a greater issue of maintaining a worldwide consensus to produce biodiesel only
from algae and not from edible oil. Development of such consensus will take additional time
since government of different countries need to seat and discuss various issues regarding the
consensus. Further, such discussion does not promise building of consensus even after many
rounds of talk across the table.
Interestingly, biodiesel is not a new fuel and is in the news from several years but the rate at
which development has taken place till date is extremely slow. This is probably due to
presence of diesel, other alternatives such as solar, gasoline, hybrid cars, hydrogen, fuel cells.
Therefore, I can strongly suggest that the pace of development in the next 50 years will not be
fast enough to completely replace diesel. Further, historical development does not suggest
very promising picture of using 100 percent biodiesel in the future.
Customer is well versed with using diesel and to change the mind-set for using biodiesel in
their vehicles, a systematic approach is required by the policymakers. This sounds like a plan
where small blends of biodiesel can be introduced and then at the later stage when customer
has accepted it well, 100 percent biodiesel can be used. This process will also take
considerable time. Classic example to emphasize this point is the non-acceptance of Honda
Hybrid cars by the Indian customers in the market even though the company reduced the
launch price to increase the sales.

International lobbying to earn profit by selling crude oil producing countries further weaken
the idea of using biodiesel instead of diesel. Economy of oil producing countries depend on
producing and selling the crude oil therefore these countries will not be willing to support
such programs.
Threats posed by market cannibalisation by introducing biodiesel in the market is another
hurdle in the full replacement of diesel. In the present scenario, oil companies when earning
huge profits just by selling diesel do not want to take risk of losing money by introducing
biodiesel in the market. In case, sell of biodiesel picks up, diesel sales will go down although
it will open up new area of earning profits. There is high risk that the same company which
introduced biodiesel may not get the profit share since other companies can have lucrative
schemes to sell biodiesel.
As a researcher I would love to drive a car running on 100% biodiesel but strong motivation
and action from all the responsible agencies and people is required to make it a reality in a
short span of time. It is true that biodiesel is a potential alternate fuel and will replace diesel
one day but not in my life span.