Over the past few years you must have heard about green airliners which used a mixture of jet fuel and bio diesel. Recently, Boeing powered its test flight using a mixture of jet fuel and green diesel.
Firstly, remember that bio diesel and green diesel are two different things. You might be confused what exactly green diesel is, and how it is different from bio diesel. Let me sort it out one by one.
Green diesel- what is it?
Green Diesel is an environmentally friendly fuel made from renewable natural sources. Green diesel is derived from oil and fat-based feed stocks. The feed-stocks of primary interest in obtaining green diesel are vegetable oils such as soybean, palm, jatropha, or rapeseed oils. Other products such as animal fats and greases can are also used as a feed- stock.
How is it different from bio diesel?
∗ Green diesel or renewable diesel or second generation diesel are chemically not esters and thus distinct from bio diesel.
∗ Bio diesel is produced by a chemical process called transesterification. The feedstock is chemically altered. Bio diesel requires that engines be modified so that it does not damage components. You need not delve further for GS.
∗ Green diesel is produced through a refining process like hydrogenation, rather than through a chemical reaction like transesterification. Green diesel is chemically identical to petro diesel. Green diesel will run in any component without modification.
∗ Too much chemistry? To put it simply, green diesel is is not processed in the same fashion as bio diesel, and it has a different chemical makeup.
What are the advantages of green diesel?
∗ It is better than standard diesel because it reduces particulate emissions as well as odour.
∗ GHG emissions from green diesel are lower than standard diesel and bio diesel.
∗ Green diesel can be produced at a lower operating cost than bio diesel using the same feed-stock.
∗ Its applicability as aviation fuel has been proved. Green diesel offers a tremendous opportunity to make sustainable aviation bio-fuel more available and more affordable for the passengers.The blended aviation fuel should produce 50 percent less carbon dioxide than straight petroleum jet fuel.It can also be used in today’s pumps , automobiles engines without changes, which will save significant expense as demand for renewable grows. Usage of green diesel can help in avoiding the substantial costs associated with building out additional infrastructure, which conventional bio diesel requires – a bottleneck that has stymied conventional bio-fuels’ penetration into the global fuels supply chain.
∗ With production capacity of 800 million gallons (3 billion litres) in the US, Europe and Asia, green diesel could rapidly supply as much as 1 percent of global jet fuel demand.
# Random fact , only gyaan, not for exam– Do not confuse this green diesel with the “green diesel of Ireland”. In Ireland, dyed green diesel is sold at a lower tax rate for agriculture purposes. Using the dye allows custom officers to determine if a person is using the cheaper diesel in higher taxed applications such as commercial haulage or cars.
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