摘要：With environmental and energy source concerns on the rise, using agriculturalfats and oils as fuel in diesel engines has captured increasing attention.Substituting petroleum diesel with biodiesel may reduce air emissions, increasethe domestic supply of fuel, and create new markets for farmers. U.S. agriculturalfats and oils could support a large amount of biodiesel, but high production costsand competing uses for biodiesel feedstocks will likely prevent mass adoption ofbiodiesel fuel. Higher-priced niche markets could develop for biodiesels as aresult of environmental regulations. Biodiesel has many environmental advan-tages relative to petroleum diesel, such as lower CO, CO2, SOx, and particulatematter emissions. Enhancing fuel properties by genetically modifiying oil cropscould improve NOxemissions, cold flow, and oxidative stability, which havebeen identified as potential problems for biodiesel. Research activities need tobe directed toward cost reduction, improving fuel properties, and analyzing theeconomic effects of biodiesel development on U.S. agriculture.
