JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The National Biodiesel Board was quick to refute a Penn State University ag engineer’s claim that there is a major difference between soy-diesel and biodiesel.
Penn State’s Dennis Buffington, citing National Renewable Energy Laboratory information, has said not all soy-diesel blends should not be burned in diesel engines. Penn State is continuing its research on filtered and clarified soybean oil as a diesel fuel supplement.
The National Biodiesel Board says soydiesel is simply a name that was formerly used for what is called “biodiesel” today.
“It is true that you can’t use raw soybean oil in diesel engines,” said Bob Metz, board president. “Confusion over the product is one of the reasons why the biodiesel industry changed the name from ‘soydiesel.'”
Metz said the bottom line is that, no, people should not use raw soybean oil in their engines, “but they can use biodiesel or soydiesel with confidence.”
Before using a product, he suggests checking whether or not it is registered with the Environmental Protection Agency. “Only biodiesel that meets certain standards can be registered with the EPA and therefore be legal to sell.”
