When making biodiesel, manufacturers usually use huge containers for mixing of the fuel components. Likewise, if the tanks are huge the other equipment used must be industrial sized. There are a number of biodiesel tank mixers, biodiesel tanks, drum mixers, biodiesel processing and storage plants. Energy balance is another important environmental attribute of fuels. For every one unit of energy needed to produce biodiesel, 3.24 units of energy are gained. On the other hand, it takes 2 units of energy to produce a single unit of petroleum diesel energy, and even more for gasoline. This information is not available for hydrogen fuel cell technology; however hydrogen gas steam reforming operations do use natural gas and electricity to make steam, so it’s likely to be high. So, for overall efficiency of energy in fuel production, biodiesel is about six times better than petroleum diesel and even more for gasoline.

The 20% blend level is also required for the fuel to be recognized as an “alternative fuel” under the federal Environmental Policy Act. Biodiesel is slightly heavier than petroleum diesel. Therefore, it is typically splash blended on top of petroleum diesel to ensure proper mixing. Safety characteristics: Biodiesel has a higher flash point than gasoline and petroleum diesel and does not produce explosive vapors, making it one of the safest fuels to use, handle and store. In addition, because it is biodegradable and non-toxic, biodiesel does not pose the soil and water contamination concerns associated with gasoline and diesel fuels. The percentage of biodiesel used in a blend well effect these characteristics.