Biodiesel is an alternative fuel formed from plant oils. One of its most common uses is transportation, where it can be used in diesel-powered vehicles. Its benefits include lower greenhouse gas emissions, lower consumption of fossil fuels, and renewability. Additionally, if biodiesel is produced by conversion of used vegetable oil instead of straight from a vegetable source, it eliminates both the need to grow and process additional plants and the need for vegetable oil disposal.

Generally, biodiesel is produced by growing soybeans or corn, pressing them into oil, and then converting that oil into biodiesel. Visit the biodiesel general information page for more information on this process, as well as a lifecycle and emissions comparisons between biodiesel and petrodiesel.

Recycled biodiesel is produced by proccessing used vegetable oil (UVO). This is the method Biodiesel@MIT is promoting at the MIT campus. Visit the recycled biodiesel page for more information about the specifics of recycling UVO into biodiesel.

Pure UVO can also be used to power diesel vehicles without first being converted to biodiesel. However, this requires modifying the vehicle’s engine system. At this time, Biodiesel@MIT has not done any research in this area.