Wisconsin Biodiesel in

Air Quality Remediation

The EPA has designated a number of areas in the country as being in non-attainment for air quality standards. This designation is an indication that the residents of these mostly high population areas are at risk for health problems related to the quality of the air they breathe.

 Virtually the entire “East Coast” of Wisconsin along Lake Michigan has been in non-attainment for a number of years. This has cost the state substantially in health consequences to the citizens who reside in its major metropolitan areas. It has also resulted in lost economic growth opportunities and an expenditure of millions of dollars in remediation efforts in attempts to achieve acceptable standards of air quality in these geographic areas.

Diesel (distillate fuel) emissions are identified as a major contributor to air pollution within these non-attainment areas. These are the fuels that are used in not only compression combustion (diesel) transport engines, but in stand-alone applications such as for heating oil and auxiliary power generation. Biodiesel helps address emission quality concerns in all applications where distillate fuels are used, reducing various pollutants by as much as 40-100%.

A DOE/USDA study recently showed that biodiesel can reduce CO2 emissions by 78% compared to petroleum, and therefore reduces introduction of this greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. Additionally, biodiesel emissions show decreased levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (NPAH) that are potential cancer causing chemicals. Health effects testing found biodiesel reduced PAH compounds by as much as 75-80%. The federal government has already targeted distillate fuel emissions in an effort to “clear the air” inside and out of the non-attainment zones.

The advent of federally mandated Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) has accomplished a great deal in reducing harmful Sulfur Dioxide emissions from diesel fuel, but at cost of compromising some of the fuel’s capability to lubricate critical engine components. Biodiesel blends in as low a concentration as 2% biodiesel with 98% ULSD replaces this lubricity as an additive while introducing no additional sulfur to the fuel supply.

Most remarkable, however, is the ability of biodiesel to remediate many of the other negative impacts from petroleum distillate emissions. WBA is anxious to discuss with fleet operators, utility companies, and others concerned about the air we breathe ways in which biodiesel can help “clear the air,” not only in our non-attainment zones, but throughout all of Wisconsin.