Today's Feedstocks
Agricultural Feedstock
Today's agriculturally based biodiesel feedstock includes:
- Virgin oils such as that from rapeseed and soybean oil (soybean oil accounts for almost 90% of fuel stock in the United States), field pennycress, Jatropha, mustard, flax, sunflower and palm oil.
- Waste vegetable oil.
- Animal fats including tallow, lard, yellow grease and chicken fat.
- Algae which can be produced without taking over crop land.
Details of major agricultural crops grown in each State can be viewed from the database of the Integrated Pest Management Center.
Waste Vegetable Oil (Yellow Grease)
Waste vegetable oil is produced when restaurants use cooking oil in food preparation. Whenever the oil is periodically changed the used oil becomes a waste product and is transported to waste disposal units or landfills. Approximately 3 billion gallons are generated nationally every year. However, waste vegetable oil can be used to make biodiesel. First the waste vegetable oil is collected by renderers who recycle it into yellow grease. Then, through the process of transesterification - in which an alcohol and a catalyst is added to the recycled yellow grease - biodiesel is produced with a byproduct of glycerol. It is also possible to recycle the waste vegetable oil into a usable feedstock with the necessary equipment. Students at the University of Connecticut have been running their buses on biodiesel which they made from waste vegetable oil from their dining commons.
Environmental Protection Agency contains more details on using waste vegetable oil as a feedstock for biodiesel.
Information on University of Connecticut's biodiesel bus program, where students and professors at the University of Connecticut are running university buses on biodiesel produced from waste grease from the university dining halls.
