Dr. Rudolf Diesel invented the well known diesel engine, in the 1890s. The doctor developed the project as an answer to the basic steam engines that have been around since the auto was first invented. Steam engines were known to be dangerous and could be very unreliable, not like the diesel engine, which was then popular.

The diesel engine was very different to the petrol engine and the diesel worked on the basis of ignition compression. Air enters into the engine cylinder and is compressed when the piston rises, igniting the mixture and emitting power. On the other hand, the petrol engine relies on a spark to explode the fuel mix and requires a backup system of leads, coils and pipes to work.

While the first public demonstration of what was essentially the early “bio diesel” engine occurred in 1900, it was to be the 1930s before modern biodiesel fuel was developed through the conversion of vegetable oils into fatty acid methyl esters.

Following the war period and during times of relative plenty, there was little real interest in biodiesel as an alternative. Petro diesel was very cheap and the early versions of vegetable oil based fuels weren’t suitable for the diesel engines of the time. The vegetable oil in use had a much higher viscosity than petro diesel fuel and this led to experimentation and the development of what we now know as modern biodiesel.

Transesterification, the process of converting vegetable oils and making them available as a diesel fuel replacement was initially mooted by a Belgian inventor back in 1937, but it wasn’t perfected until the 1980s, when complex socio-economic factors combined to draw our attention towards efficiency and energy security. The process of transesterification was successfully matched at this time, making biodiesel fuel a real substitute to those concerned about the environment.

Biodiesel first gained widespread acceptance in Europe in the 1990s, due to much higher prices of petro diesel. Biodiesel first went into production in the US in 1996, and during the decade to follow it has become more and more available and the subject of more interest in general.

We now know how much damage we’ve caused to our environment through gas emission, industrial and automotive pollution. While this awareness has been slowly emerging, costs associated with energy production have been rising inexorably. When gas prices reached the peaks in the United Says recently, consumers really became aware of sustainability and the need to become more efficient. Petro diesel costs more than regular gasoline and either method digs into the typical monthly budget cost, so alternatives that are seen to be superior for the environment are becoming more popular.

The history of biodiesel seems set for an exciting chapter ahead as we focus more on energy security, environmental issues and balancing our budgets. Nowadays, homemade biodiesel is becoming a stepping stone for many as they seek to attain an element of independence and environmental stewardship. It comes down to the easy equation of whether a sustainable fuel solution can be produced at a lesser cost than the readily available alternative, and in this case, biodiesel is most definitely the answer. It’s a real solution, and a way forward.

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