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Biodiesel

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Renewable Energy Systems

Definition of the Subject and Its Importance

The transport sector is one the fastest growing segment using fossil-based products. Especially because of the economic development in countries like India and China, there is a need for high mobility and transport. Today’s transport system is based on combustion engines using fossil fuels, leading to a sharp increase of emissions of green house gases (GHG) within the last decades. Furthermore, for most of the industrialized countries there is a strong dependency on oil-producing countries, which could cause political conflicts and even wars. Therefore, especially in times of a sharp increase in crude oil prices, the question of alternative fuels or transport systems is highly discussed. Moreover, the effects of global warming caused by the increased emissions of green house gases stimulate the call for alternative fuels. For kinds of energy like electricity and heating power,...

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Abbreviations

Biodiesel:

Fatty acid methyl or ethyl esters made out of fatty acid material.

Catalyst:

Chemical compound that increases the reaction rate of a chemical reaction, either soluble (homogenous) or insoluble (heterogeneous).

BtL fuels:

Fuels made out of biomass by gasification and further synthesis with Fischer–Tropsch catalysts.

Esterification:

Chemical reaction of a carboxylic acid with an alcohol forming a carboxylic ester and water.

Feedstocks:

Any vegetable oil, animal fat, waste oils like used cooking oil, fatty acids.

Green house gas (GHG) savings:

Saving of the emissions of green house gases of a biofuel in the whole production chain in comparison to fossil fuel.

Life cycle analysis:

Assessment of the environmental impacts of a given product caused by its production and use.

Transesterification:

Chemical reaction of a carboxylic ester with an alcohol or a carboxylic acid in order to obtain another carboxylic ester.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Chemistry, Karl-Franzens-University of Graz, 8010, Graz, Austria

    Martin Mittelbach

Authors
  1. Martin Mittelbach
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martin Mittelbach .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. German Biomass Research Centre, Leipzig, Germany

    Martin Kaltschmitt

  2. Institute of Environmental Technology and Energy Economics, Hamburg University of Technology, Hamburg, Germany

    Martin Kaltschmitt

  3. Earth Engineering Center, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Nickolas J. Themelis

  4. Ormat Technologies, Inc., Reno, NV, USA

    Lucien Y. Bronicki

  5. Royal Institute of Technology, Electric Power Systems, Stockholm, Sweden

    Lennart Söder

  6. Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, School of Ocean And Earth Science And Technology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Luis A. Vega

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Mittelbach, M. (2013). Biodiesel . In: Kaltschmitt, M., Themelis, N.J., Bronicki, L.Y., Söder, L., Vega, L.A. (eds) Renewable Energy Systems. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5820-3_311

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