/sci/ - Science & Math

>>4129574
Biodiesel has way better specific energy density than any other biofuel, and better volumetric energy density than even gasoline. Since it's a diesel fuel, it will be burned more efficiently than any spark-ignition fuel (INCLUDING alcohol). As a result, it offers almost no compromise in range for automobiles, unlike electric or hydrogen alternatives. It won't present a massive (and energy-intensive) weight penalty like battery-electric would, either. Unlike alcohol biofuels, it can be run in existing diesel engines with virtually no modification whatsoever. Initial costs will not be even remotely prohibitive like battery-electric would inevitably be. And of course, it is ultimately carbon-neuteral when derived from photosynthetic biomass.

The only thing wrong with biodiesel right now is not energy density, it's production. If we can figure out how to produce biodiesel practically at a large scale (i.e. cost- and resource-effectively, without competing too much with agriculture), then I see no reason at all why we should NOT immediately start phasing it in as the alternative of choice.