Energised by vegetables
recently, a group of Kolkata-based taxi drivers did something quite unusual. They decided to tamper with the fuel in their taxis. They mixed 20 litres of diesel with one litre of mustard oil and ran their taxis on it. For them the doping made perfect economic sense. By default, researchers discovered that it reduced carbon monoxide (co) and sulphur dioxide (so2) emissions by as much as 85 per cent.
And this seemingly eerie act by the entrepreneurial taxi drivers is perfectly in line with the happening world over. Globally, researchers are looking at vege table oils to run vehicles on. The new mantra is to use oil extracts from a wide variety of sources including neem (Azadirachta indica), mahua (Madhuca indica), mustard (Brassica campestris), castor (Ricinus communis) and karanj (Pongamia pinnata) as a blending substance for conventional fossil fuels like diesel.
The quest for these vegetable oil-based fuels had begun with the need to find newer sources of transport fuels for facing the impending crisis of fast depleting crude oil reserves. But now they are also being looked upon to further check vehicular emissions.
The most commonly used biofuels include plant oils such as soybean, sunflower and rapeseed that are blended with diesel. On the other hand, fermen ted sugar beets and cereals are used for making bioethanol, which is mixed in petrol. One of the most talked about biofuel option today is biodiesel