Diesel fuel from vegetable oils: Status and opportunities

The technical and economic aspects of using vegetable oils as alternative sources for diesel fuels have been studied extensively during the past two decades. Although much of the recent research and development on the production and use of diesel fuel substitutes has been carried out in developed countries, the need for such substitutes and the potential for their production is much greater in developing countries. This report will review some of the results obtained from using vegetable oils and their derivatives as fuel in compression ignition engines and examine opportunities for their broader production and use. It will include some historic background, as well as current and potential yields of candidate crops, the technology and economics of vegetable oil conversion to diesel fuel, the performance of various oils, the potential inherent in diesel fuel coproduction, environmental considerations, and other research opportunities. Vegetable oils will not entirely displace petroleum as a source of diesel fuel. There are, however, technical, economic, and environmental considerations that can lead to their wider use in this application.