Biodiesel Is Dead: Long Life to Advanced Biofuels—A Comprehensive Critical Review

Rafael Estevez, Laura Aguado-Deblas, Francisco J. López-Tenllado, Carlos Luna, Juan Calero, Antonio A. Romero, Felipa M. Bautista and Diego Luna
Additional contact information
Rafael Estevez: Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universidad de Cordoba, Campus de Rabanales, Ed. Marie Curie, 14014 Cordoba, Spain
Laura Aguado-Deblas: Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universidad de Cordoba, Campus de Rabanales, Ed. Marie Curie, 14014 Cordoba, Spain
Francisco J. López-Tenllado: Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universidad de Cordoba, Campus de Rabanales, Ed. Marie Curie, 14014 Cordoba, Spain
Carlos Luna: Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universidad de Cordoba, Campus de Rabanales, Ed. Marie Curie, 14014 Cordoba, Spain
Juan Calero: Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universidad de Cordoba, Campus de Rabanales, Ed. Marie Curie, 14014 Cordoba, Spain
Antonio A. Romero: Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universidad de Cordoba, Campus de Rabanales, Ed. Marie Curie, 14014 Cordoba, Spain
Felipa M. Bautista: Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universidad de Cordoba, Campus de Rabanales, Ed. Marie Curie, 14014 Cordoba, Spain
Diego Luna: Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universidad de Cordoba, Campus de Rabanales, Ed. Marie Curie, 14014 Cordoba, Spain

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 9, 1-39

Abstract: Many countries are immersed in several strategies to reduce the carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions of internal combustion engines. One option is the substitution of these engines by electric and/or hydrogen engines. However, apart from the strategic and logistical difficulties associated with this change, the application of electric or hydrogen engines in heavy transport, e.g., trucks, shipping, and aircrafts, also presents technological difficulties in the short-medium term. In addition, the replacement of the current car fleet will take decades. This is why the use of biofuels is presented as the only viable alternative to diminishing CO 2 emissions in the very near future. Nowadays, it is assumed that vegetable oils will be the main raw material for replacing fossil fuels in diesel engines. In this context, it has also been assumed that the reduction in the viscosity of straight vegetable oils (SVO) must be performed through a transesterification reaction with methanol in order to obtain the mixture of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) that constitute biodiesel. Nevertheless, the complexity in the industrial production of this biofuel, mainly due to the costs of eliminating the glycerol produced, has caused a significant delay in the energy transition. For this reason, several advanced biofuels that avoid the glycerol production and exhibit similar properties to fossil diesel have been developed. In this way, “green diesels” have emerged as products of different processes, such as the cracking or pyrolysis of vegetable oil, as well as catalytic (hydro)cracking. In addition, some biodiesel-like biofuels, such as Gliperol (DMC-Biod) or Ecodiesel, as well as straight vegetable oils, in blends with plant-based sources with low viscosity have been described as renewable biofuels capable of performing in combustion ignition engines. After evaluating the research carried out in the last decades, it can be concluded that green diesel and biodiesel-like biofuels could constitute the main alternative to addressing the energy transition, although green diesel will be the principal option in aviation fuel.

Keywords: biodiesel; advanced biofuel; straight vegetable oils (SVO); Gliperol; DMC-Biod; Ecodiesel; green diesel; pyrolysis; cracking; hydrocracking; less viscous and lower cetane (LVLC) vegetable oil blends (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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