Hart & Iliff Testing Renewable Fuel

Biofuels appear to have a bright future. One particularly interesting biofuel, called Ethyl Levulinate, will be sold and marketed under the name “Renewable Fuel.” What makes this fuel unique is the way it is manufactured. The biofuels currently in use are produced using vegetable oils or animal fats. Renewable fuel, on the other hand, is produced using materials which can be composted. In other words, Ethyl Levulinate is made from garbage.

From an environmental standpoint, renewable fuel is superior to standard biofuel because it will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and also reduce the amount of trash going into our country’s landfills. Just like regular biofuel, renewable fuel contains no sulfur and has excellent lubricity properties.

Another significant advantage of renewable fuel is that its pour point is less than -30° F, rather than +35° F for biofuel. This means that renewable fuel does not have the cold handling and blending problems associated with biofuel. When blended with diesel fuel or heating oil, it will improve the cold flow properties of the resulting renewable diesel or renewable heat. Since it is made from trash, it should also be less expensive to produce. At this point, the only known disadvantage of renewable fuel as compared to biofuel is that it has a somewhat lower BTU content.

Hart & Iliff was chosen by Princeton University to do some preliminary testing of this exciting new fuel. If you would like more information about Ethyl Levulinate, call us at 973-383-1421.