The use of alternative fuels is booming. Apart from bioethanol for adding to petrol, this development is due mainly to biodiesel. There are a number of reasons for biodiesel's success: rising world market prices for oil, the high taxation of conventional fuels, and an international environmental policy that specifically promotes fuels from renewable resources. In addition, the quality of biodiesel is now equal to that of conventional diesel.
Biodiesel can be extracted from virtually all vegetable oils. While rape is the most productive plant in Europe, soy bean oil or palm oil are extremely important in other regions of the world. Unlike fossil fuels, whose sources are slowly but surely running out, renewable resources guarantee 'replenishment' with each harvest.
And irrespective of the oilseed used, all the by-products, such as bruised grain or glycerine, can be used - so ecology and the economy are in perfect harmony.
