ARS | Publication request: Research on Biodiesel and Vegetable Oil Fuels

Submitted to: Annual Meeting and Expo of the American Oil Chemists' Society
Publication Type: Abstract
Publication Acceptance Date: March 1, 2006
Publication Date: April 30, 2006
Citation: Knothe, G.H. 2006. Research on biodiesel and vegetable oil fuels - Then and now [abstract]. 97th American Oil Chemists' Society Annual Meeting and Expo. p. 66.

Technical Abstract: The use of vegetable oils as diesel fuel is nearly as old as the diesel engine itself. The first biodiesel, in form of ethyl esters of palm oil, was described in the late 1930s. Significant technical insights on these fuels were gained up to the late 1940s. Beginning in the late 1970s, these "alternative" fuels gained increasing attention and significance again. Driven largely by energy security and environmental issues, biodiesel, now generally defined as the alkyl esters of vegetable oils or animal fats, has become an established or nascent "alternative" fuel in many countries around the world. As with all other fuels, important technical aspects are being researched and problems remain to be solved. This presentation provides a brief overview of biodiesel and its fuel properties. "Historic" and very recent research will be compared and discussed.