AAABioFuel

Maly have now taken an in-depth look at the quality of biodiesel made from jatropha. “This fuel has not yet reached optimal quality, but it already fulfills the EU norm for biodiesel quality,” says Maly. “That’s a remarkable achievement, in view of the simple production processes involved.” Maly’s team subjected the emissions associated with jatropha biodiesel to tough laboratory tests that confirmed their Indian colleagues’ observations of the advantages of this fuel. In addition, this renewable fuel’s high octane values, very low sulfur content and high oxygen content give it excellent combustion properties.“What’s more, the CO2 balance of fuels derived from renewable energy sources is much better than that of fuels based on crude oil,” Maly adds. After all, the combustion of biodiesel releases only the amount of CO2 that the plant removed from the atmosphere when it was growing. Only the amount of energy used for the cultivation, harvesting and transport of the plants plus the energy needed to produce biodiesel affects the CO2 balance. And in principle, it is possible to significantly reduce that energy figure.
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