Biodiesel vs biofuel: what’s the difference?

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Biodiesel is a type of biofuel made from vegetable oils, while biofuels are made from various components like alcohol, methanol, and decaying biological material. Biofuels are renewable and produce more energy than is needed to produce them, making them an excellent source of renewable energy. They also release 70% less carbon dioxide emissions compared to diesel fuel.

The difference between biodiesel and biofuel is that one is a fuel and the other is a category: biodiesel is a form of biofuel. Biofuels are fuels made from components other than petroleum products, such as alcohol, methanol, soybeans, and many others; Biodiesel is made from vegetable oils. This category includes many different fuels, from firewood to human and animal waste and landfill gases.

With the cost of petroleum fuels increasing more and more and the consciousness of the collective world leaning towards a greener way of life, more and more people are talking about biodiesel and other biofuels. However, there is still a lot of confusion around these terms. While biodiesel is a relatively new concept, biofuels have been used by humans since the first cave dwellers learned to cook and heat their caves with open fires. Biofuel can best be identified as a type of fuel made from decaying biological material, such as wood or garbage, or animal and vegetable fat.

While biodiesel and biofuel can help some countries reduce their dependence on oil, products like E-85 gasoline are not biofuels. This product contains 15% petroleum gasoline in addition to the ethanol-based fuel, keeping it out of that category. In conversation terms, fossil fuels are technically biofuels because they are made from plants and animals that have died and decayed over millions of years. The key difference is that biofuels are renewable, where fossil fuels are not.

In most cases, biofuels produce more energy than is needed to produce them. This makes them an excellent source of renewable energy that can be produced entirely within a single country from crops and animals raised by local farmers. From an ecological point of view, biodiesel and other biofuels release an average of 70% less carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere when burned compared to diesel fuel.




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