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Making eco-friendly diesel fuel from butter

Date:
July 28, 2010
Source:
American Chemical Society
Summary:
The search for new raw materials for making biodiesel fuel has led scientists to an unlikely farm product -- butter. In a new study, researchers report that butter could be used as an eco-friendly feedstock, or raw material, for making diesel fuel.
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The search for new raw materials for making biodiesel fuel has led scientists to an unlikely farm product -- butter.

In a new study in ACS' bi-weekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, they report that butter could be used as an eco-friendly feedstock, or raw material, for making diesel fuel.

Michael Haas and colleagues cite rising global demand for biodiesel, and the desire to expand the feedstock base, as motivating factors for their research. The United States alone has committed to producing 36 billion gallons of biofuel by 2022, a major increase from the current annual production level of about 11 billion gallons. Most of that was ethanol. Biodiesel production, now approaching 1 billion gallons annually in the U.S., is also slated to increase.

As researchers seek additional and affordable feedstocks for biodiesel production, these scientists turned to butter, one billion pounds of which are produced annually. Could surplus, spoiled, or nonfood-grade butter be used to make biodiesel at competitive prices?

In an effort to find out, the scientists recovered the fat from a quarter-ton of butter and converted it into the fatty acid esters that constitute biodiesel. They found that the resulting material met all but one of the official test standards for biodiesel. The study concluded that with further purification or by blending with biodiesel from other feedstocks butter biodiesel could add to the supply of biobased fuel for diesel engines.


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Materials provided by American Chemical Society. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Michael J. Haas, Nadia Adawi, William W. Berry, Elaine Feldman, Stephen Kasprzyk, Brian Ratigan, Karen Scott, Emily Bockian Landsburg. Butter as a Feedstock for Biodiesel Production. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2010; 58 (13): 7680 DOI: 10.1021/jf1003754

Cite This Page:

American Chemical Society. "Making eco-friendly diesel fuel from butter." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 28 July 2010. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100728121339.htm>.
American Chemical Society. (2010, July 28). Making eco-friendly diesel fuel from butter. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 19, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100728121339.htm
American Chemical Society. "Making eco-friendly diesel fuel from butter." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100728121339.htm (accessed March 19, 2024).

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