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History
Attempts to use vegetable
oils as fuels are practically as old as internal combustion
engines themselves. Although it is often claimed that Rudolph
Diesel initially used peanut oil in his diesel engine,
Knothe [Inform, v.12, Nov. 2001] points
out that Diesel was describing a test conducted by another
company. In any case, the vegetable oil testing was considered
to be a success and offered the potential for remote African
colonies to be self-sufficient in fuel because seed oils were
easier to produce than petroleum-based fuels.
According to Knothe, the earliest known
use of alkyl esters appears in a Belgian patent granted in 1937
to G. Chavanne [#422,877]. This patent
describes the use of ethyl esters of palm oil. Not much more
was done with alkyl esters until the late 1970s and early 1980s,
when concerns about high petroleum prices motivated extensive
experimentation with fats and oils as alternative fuels. Much
of this research focused on directly using fats and oils, either
as pure fuels or in blends with diesel fuel. In most cases, the
oils led to excessive deposit formation and gradual engine
degradation. Engines with indirect injection type combustion
systems seemed to be more resistant to fuel problems than direct
injection systems. Unfortunately, the fuel economy benefits of
direct injection engines were making them the engine of choice
for heavy duty applications.
In the United States, much of the impetus for the
development of biodiesel has come from soybean farmers who see
it as a potential new market for soybean oil. In March 1992, a
trade group of soybean farmers formed the National Soy Fuels
Advisory Committee to investigate whether a potential market
existed for biodiesel [4]. This committee commissioned a study
which concluded there were several large potential markets. The
National Soy Fuels Advisory Committee then disbanded and a new,
not-for-profit, corporation, the National Soydiesel Development
Board (NSDB), was formed in October 1992 with the objective of
commercializing biodiesel. To broaden their support from other
feedstock groups, the NSDB subsequently changed its name to the
National Biodiesel Board (NBB). The NBB is funded by check-off
funds from soybean farmers across the country and by dues paid
by board members. One half percent of the selling price of every
bushel of soybeans sold in the U.S. is collected through the
U.S. Department of Agriculture and made available to state and
national farmer-run soybean associations. In Iowa, these funds
are channeled through the Iowa Soybean Promotion Board with the
Iowa Soybean Association providing administrative support. At
the national level there is a similar structure with the United
Soybean Board receiving the funds and the American Soybean
Association providing administrative support.
The NBB coordinated and financed much of the
biodiesel-related research during the 1990s. This research
culminated in the Health Effects testing needed to comply with
the Environmental Protections Agency's Fuel and Fuel Additives
Registration program. These data will be discussed elsewhere in
this program.
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