Butter could be the new raw material to make eco-friendly diesel fuel

Washington, July 29 (ANI): In the search for new raw materials for making biodiesel fuel, scientists have now closed in on an unlikely farm product - butter.

In a new study, researchers have claimed that butter could be used as an eco-friendly feedstock, or raw material, for making diesel fuel.

Michael Haas and colleagues cite rising global demand for biodiesel, and the desire to expand the feedstock base, as motivating factors for their research.

As researchers seek additional and affordable feedstocks for biodiesel production, scientists turned to butter, one billion pounds of which are produced annually.

In an effort to find out if surplus, spoiled, or nonfood-grade butter could be used to make biodiesel at competitive prices, scientists recovered the fat from a quarter-ton of butter and converted it into the fatty acid esters that constitute biodiesel.

They found that the resulting material met all but one of the official test standards for biodiesel.

The study concluded that with further purification or by blending with biodiesel from other feedstocks butter biodiesel could add to the supply of biobased fuel for diesel engines

The study has been published in ACS' bi-weekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. (ANI)