Plant oils

Vegetable oils as fuels

Fill her up!

• Which fuels are form renewable sources?• Which fuels are not renewable?

• Oil• Biodiesel• Diesel• Gas

• Petrol• Alcohol• Hydrogen

Cod and chips

• Possible to run a car on oil used to fry fish and chips

• Can mix vegetable oil and diesel in correct proportions

Biodiesel

• Name given to fuel made from vegetable oil

• Oil is treated to remove unwanted chemicals– Used on its own– Mixed with diesel refined from crude oil

• Other by-products:– Solid material = high energy cattle feed– Glycerine = used in soap

Benefits and advantages

• Very clean in terms of pollution– Very little sulphur

dioxide

• Not harmful to animal and plant life

• If spilled, breaks down much faster than ‘normal’ diesel

Benefits and advantages

• Biodiesel gives off carbon dioxide when burnt

• Biodiesel is grown

• Crops used absorb carbon dioxide as they grow

• C02 produced is absorbed by plants

– Carbon neutral

• No greenhouse gases

• What is biodiesel and what is it made from?

• Challenge question – Explain why biodiesel is a carbon neutral fuel

Use biodiesel!!

• Produce an A4 poster explaining:

1. What biodiesel is2. How it is produced3. Benefits and advantages of its use

• Make it as eye catching as possible• Its going on the wall

Other bio-fuels

• Ethanol (alcohol)– Fermenting sugar from sugar cane– Used in Brazil a lot – added to normal petrol

• Gives off CO2 when burnt

– Absorbed by plants during photosynthesis

• Ethanol can also be made from etheneC2H4 + H20 C2H5OH

• Why is ethanol from sugar cane a biofuel, but ethanol from ethene is not?