Renewable Cogen Asia

Biodiesel is produced from different vegetable oils. Up to 90-95% of biodiesel can be produced from any vegetable oil. The main advantage of biodiesel is that it can be used in existing diesel engines with little or no modification

In Asia, jatropha and palm oil are used most widely for biodiesel production. Palm oil in Malaysia and Thailand, coconut oil in Philippines, jatropha and pungam oil in India, mustard oil in Europe, soya bean oil in US and canola oil in Canada are used for biodiesel production. There is a good possibility that the oil production will be increased due to its demand to meet the food and fuel requirements.

On the contrary, some of the important edible oils like palm, coconut and mustard are already in demand and in short supply. The demand for biodiesel will lead to increased production of these oils, owing to its commercial value in the market. These in turn will aggravate the shortage of oil supply for edible purpose. Hence, certain countries have banned biodiesel production from edible oil. For example, in India, only jatropha and pungam are used for biodiesel production. R&D efforts are still going on related to the yield, cropping pattern, etc. of these crops.

Hence, the raw materials used for biodiesel production depend on the national policy of each country as these biofuels sometimes tend to compete with food, resulting in increased food price.

This has lead to international controversies and a lot of debate. Several organizations are stressing the importance of sustainability in biofuel production. Sustainable palm oil production for food and fuel industry is also triggering several debates.

Biodiesel production raises a lot of concern also due to increased land requirement, deforestation and threat to biodiversity. Some organizations are working on these criteria including the standards and processes for sustainable biodiesel production. For services related to biodiesel, contact us.