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The issue with diesel engines is the fuel does not burn as cleanly in terms of particulate matter. Biodiesel and dinosaur diesel are both the same in this. For
by fyfy18 6y ago
The issue with diesel engines is the fuel does not burn as cleanly in terms of particulate matter. Biodiesel and dinosaur diesel are both the same in this. For the last 15 years or so new diesel cars in Europe have been required to have a diesel particulate filter with the aim of reducing this.
Unlike a catalytic converter though, eventually (after 150,000km or so) they will become blocked up and cause a noticeable drop in power or cause engine fault codes. At that point you need to replace it, which could be a few thousand Euro for a new DPF, or the more common option is to remove it. This is illegal in most EU countries, but also a blind eye is turned to it - even in places with strict emissions checks like the UK.
AdBlue is a modern way of reducing this even more, but there are already devices you can buy that will trick the ECU into thinking your tank of AdBlue is full when its actually empty.
Combined with other common issues like injectors wearing out, as a diesel engine gets old it will burn fuel a lot dirtier than a similar aged petrol engine.
- lucian1900 6y agoNone of that has anything to do with carbon emissions, which do not increase with poor maintenance (unlike NOx or particulates). And they're all manageable issues, unlike the carbon emissions of petrol engines.
- fyfy18 6y agoThat's true, but diesel engines are only really less polluting in terms of CO2 due to using a lower amount of fuel consumed. If your goal is to reduce that, then as you say biofuels are the right answer. However any mass adoption to biofuels would require different engine (existing engines will work fine on a low blend of biofuels, but very few will work on 10P%). For cars, why would you stick with a biodiesel engine which is more complicated and has higher levels of other pollutants, than some sort of biogasoline engine?
- lucian1900 6y agoEngines running on biofuels equivalent to benzine are still significantly less efficient than diesels. They also require significant modifications, whereas diesels run on vegetable oils with little to no change. Hemp oil powering diesels is possibly the most efficient locomotion path we have, only really competing with electricity generated with little carbon emissions.