Feedstock
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- Any oil seed can be used to extract oil. However, better option is to use non-edible oil seeds.
- There are more than 200 variety of oil seeds that can be used to produce biodiesel.
- Some common examples include rice bran, sal, neem, mahua, karanja, castor, linseed, jatropha, honge, rubber seed etc.
Advantages
Fuel
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Energy density] (in MJ/ kg)
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Ethanol
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24-25
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Peirol
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43-44
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Biodiesel
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40-41
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Diesel
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45.5
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- High energy density
- Low energy input
- Nitrogen-fixation
- No Sulphur
- No aromatics
A case for biodiesel
- India uses 5 times more diesel than petrol, so an alternative for diesel is more important than that for petrol.
- De-sulphurisation of diesel is cost intensive.
- Rural development: growing oilseed-based crops for biodiesel will augment farmer’s income.
- Converting degraded land
- Improves soil fertility as most oilseed-crops are leguminous crops which helps in nitrogen fixation.
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