Biodiesel production in the country has been fluctuating in recent years. The soybean crop of the year determines the amount of soybean oil available for production. Now, the Brazilian government hopes to announce by the end of this year, the anticipation, for march of next year, of the increase in the blending of biodiesel in the diesel, of the current 8 for 10 Percent.
And this way, we brought here a brief summary of what is, and how one of the most ascendant biofuels in recent years is produced. And we leave the question, will our production be able to achieve this goal?
What is biodiesel made of?
Biodiesel is a biodegradable fuel derived from renewable sources such as vegetable oils and animal fats. to produce it, the oil taken from the plants is mixed with alcohol, or methanol, and then stimulated by a catalyst. Then the oil is separated from the glycerin, used in soap making, and later filtered.
There are different species of oilseeds in Brazil that can be used to produce biodiesel. Among them are the castor bean, the palm, a canola, the sunflower, the peanut, soy and cotton.
To better understand…
The mixture between biodiesel and mineral diesel is known by the letter B, followed by the number that corresponds to the amount of biodiesel in the mixture. For example, if a mixture has 5% biodiesel, is called B5, if have 20% biodiesel, is B20. The use of pure biodiesel is still being tested, if only biodiesel is used, without mixing with mineral diesel, is called B100.
Learn about the biodiesel production process
To make it even clearer, the following video, made by Embrapa Agroenergy, shows all the processes involved and the raw materials that can be used to produce biodiesel:
A glass reactor allows you to view all stages of biofuel production. And we've already talked about biodiesel here, if you get interested, click here and read the material.