Biofuels

New Biodiesel Emissions Study Clears The Air

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a new comprehensive technical report of biodiesel emissions data that shows biodiesel use can reduce emissions of particulate matter by 47 percent when compared to petroleum diesel in unmodified diesel engines.

The report also verified a 67 percent reduction in unburned hydrocarbons and a 48 percent reduction in carbon monoxide with pure biodiesel (B100).

While the technical report, which is a compilation of 39 separate scientific studies, is not an official rulemaking, the release of the report by EPA provides a government-validated reference for federal, state and local pollution strategies to reduce emissions that are harmful to human health and the environment.

"This EPA evaluation provides independent confirmation of the emissions benefits of biodiesel, which is important for air planners and customers who are evaluating the switch to biodiesel," said Joe Jobe, executive director of the National Biodiesel Board (NBB). "We are pleased that the EPA numbers are actually a little higher than our own analysis, and that they show benefits can be obtained at any biodiesel concentration in a mostly linear fashion, as we have been advising. We are planning to adopt the EPA analysis so NBB and EPA will be giving out the same set of numbers."

To provide the comprehensive assessment, EPA analyzed 80 prominent biodiesel emissions studies, including research performed by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute and Southwest Research Institute.

A full chart of the new emissions numbers for both B100 and B20 can be viewed on the NBB Web site.