1. Introduction
Biodiesel is an environment friendly liquid fuel similar
to petro-diesel in combustion properties. Increasing environmental
concern, diminishing petroleum reserves and
agriculture-based economy of our country are the driving
forces to promote biodiesel as an alternate renewable transportation
fuel. Biodiesel derived from vegetable oil and
animal fats is being used in USA and Europe to reduce
air pollution, to reduce dependence on fossil fuel, whose
resources are limited and localized to some specific regions.
In USA and Europe, their surplus edible oils like soybean
oil, sunflower oil and rapeseed oil are being used as feedstock
for the production of biodiesel.
Since India is net importer of vegetable oils, therefore
these oils cannot be used for the production of biodiesel.
India has the potential to be a leading world producer of
biodiesel, as biodiesel can be ‘‘harvested,’’ and sourced
from non-edible oils like Jatropha Curcas, Pongamia Pinnata
andMadhuca Indica plants. Out of these plants, India
is focusing on a wild plant, Jatropha Curcas, which can
grow in arid, semiarid and wasteland. It requires little
water and fertilizer, can survive on infertile soils, and is
not browsed by cattle. It’s also pest-resistant and has a
high-seed yield that continues to be produced for 30–40
years. Oil content in the Jatropha seeds is around 30–
40%. India has about 80–100 million hectare of wasteland,
which can be used for the Jatropha cultivation. In fact,
implementation of biodiesel in India will lead to many
advantages like providing green cover to wasteland, support
to agricultural and rural economy, and reduction in
dependency on imported crude oil and reduction in air pollution
[1].
The research on biodiesel stability has been put on top
priority by voting at Annual Biodiesel Technical Workshop
held at Chicago on 12 and 13, January 2005 [2]. As
biodiesel chemically is an ester molecule there is every possibility
that in the presence of air or oxygen it will be
hydrolyzed to alcohol and acid. Presence of alcohol will
lead to reduction in flash point and presence of acid will
increase total acid number. All these make methyl ester
relatively unstable on storage and cause damage to engine