BIODIESEL AS ALTERNATIVE ENGINE FUEL

Practically all the countries in the European Union and most of the transition countries have in the last decade, and some even earlier than that, started off the production of biofuels, that is, of biodiesel fuel and ethanol. On the basis of a survey of numerous results of investigations in the world, in this work the most important properties of biodiesel fuel are reviewed, its employment to date as alternative fuel for diesel engines, and the environmental impact of its combustion as compared with that of mineral diesel fuel. Since the basic raw material for the production of biodiesel from renewable resources is the oil of oilseed rape, a detailed analysis is given of the existing structure of the crop and the percentage of the cultivable land in Croatia given over to oilseed rape, as well as the realistic opportunities for the production of this crop for the non-food chain, in other words, the opportunity for the production of biodiesel in Croatia.