Utilizing
glycerol as a fuel has the potential of replacing
3.8 108 L/year (1.0 108 gal/year) of fuel oil,
equivalent to 1.8 109 kg/year (1.3 106 tons/
year) of carbon dioxide. Even though glycerol is
known to have a moderate heating value
(16 MJ/kg), it has not previously been used as
a fuel. Glycerol has a very high activation energy
resulting in an auto-ignition temperature of
370 C as compared to 210 and 280 C for kerosene
and gasoline, respectively [5].