EYA-UBC BioDiesel Project
A partnership of the
Environmental Youth Alliance
&
UBC Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering
What is Biodiesel?
• Biodiesel is a cost effective environmentally friendly alternative to fossil diesel fuel.
• It can be used at any blend with regular diesel, and in most engines without major modifications
• It can be made from recycled vegetable and oil and animal fats.
• Currently, most commercial production is using fresh rape seed or soybean oil
Environmental BenefitsEmissions (compared with diesel) B100 B20Greenhouse gases (LCA) -78.4% -15.6%U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Department of Agriculture. An Overview ofBiodiesel and Petroleum Diesel Life Cycles. May 1998 p. vhttp://www.afdc.doe.gov/pdfs/3812.pdf
Carbon Monoxide -43% -13%Hydrocarbons -56 -11Particulates -55 -18Nitrus Oxides +6 +1Air Toxics -60-90 -12-20Cancer Risk -94 -27Mutagenicity -80-90 -20US department of energy “Bio Diesel-Clean Green Diesel Fuel”http://www.afdc.doe.gov/pdfs/Bio_CleanGreen.pdf
How do we make Biodiesel?
Step 1:Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) is collected from on the UBC campus and in the surrounding community.
The Chemical Reaction
Step 2:The waste vegetable oil is then filtered and mixed with methanol and KOH. This creates a chemical reaction which produces fatty acid methyl esters and glycerol.
The Final Product• These methyl esters are also known as Bio-
Diesel and are sold to UBC Plant operations for use in their diesel vehicle maintenance fleet
Lessons learned
• Feedstock collection • Small-scale Biodiesel production• Community-scale Biodiesel production• Policy Issues
Feedstock Collection
•If only vegetable oils can be processed economically, then care must be taken to separate animal fats
•Restaurants are pleased to dispose of waste for free, however, existing collectors and new competition may make feedstock supply uncertain.
Small-Scale Facility•Home scale or small scale facilities should not be encouraged without proper health and safety precautions.
•Institutional/commercial setting is ideal for this scale
•Small scale too cost intensive make money
Community-Scale Facility
• Larger capacity has potential under certain circumstances to be an attractive GHG reduction strategy
• Modest profitability at about 12000 liters per month output and $0.70 / liter
Policy Issues• Treatment as an alt. fuel reduces tax costs (~10-20
cents/liter) to where Biodiesel can be competitive
• Canadian Lifecycle GHG analysis to be done to verify GHG savings of various feed-stocks and processes compared to regular diesel
Near term plans• Designing, testing and building of
a community-scale facility capable of processing 300-1000 liters per day.
• Working with UBC Chem Eng to support research into uses for Biodiesel co-products, better in-situ testing, and improving Biodiesel cold flow and storage properties
• Operating plant and selling fuel to UBC plant operations
Medium Term Plans
• Proposal to the City of Quesnel to investigate the feasibility of a community scale Biodiesel facility there
• Similar pre-feasibility studies for two other municipalities over the next 18 months
• Creation of a technology transfer package for municipalities
Longer term plans
• Exploration of partnerships for commercial scale Biodiesel ventures
• Creation of a youth community innovation fund with the potential profits of such a venture to:– support graduate student research on Biodiesel– to fund innovative GHG reduction
strategies/technologies developed by post-secondary students
