Don't worry about biodiesel quality

It is becoming so widespread that even people in the provinces do not believe government information. In other words, Thais these days choose to believe information from sources that are “on their side”. 

For example, government agencies have just come out to say that this year’s flood will not be as severe as last year’s. But wherever you go, people are still asking, “Is it true that government agencies announced that there will be no flooding this year?” 

Even in my hometown, which is located beside the Chao Phraya river, the water level is three metres below the bank. But locals in the area do not believe that there will be no flood. They also say, without any proof, that the reason the water level is still low is because the government has ordered large dams up north to retain a major volume of water. 

So if heavy rain continues and the dams fill up to the point that they can’t hold all that water, they will all at the same time start to release the water. This could lead to another major flood. This is a small example which shows Thais are just not buying government information. 

And if you take a look at the automotive industry, you’ll find a similar case. A good example is when the government tried to promote the use alternative fuels such as gasohol and biodiesel. The government invested heavily – both directly and indirectly – through various media in educating the public that these new fuels can be used without causing any damage to vehicle engines. But the majority of motorists do not fully believe this so-called “propaganda” from the government. 

Just look at biodiesel. The government spent lots of money telling motorists they can fill B5 diesel into their vehicles without any negative effects to the engine. But the people still did not believe the government and sales of B5 fuel did not reach the target. 

But when private companies like Shell came out to say that their diesel fuel has outstanding qualities to help improve acceleration, lots of people rushed in to purchase this new fuel product although it costs more than regular diesel. And, most importantly, the new Shell diesel fuel contains the exact percentage of biodiesel that is designated by the government. 

I am writing about this topic today because at the moment there are many organisations in Thailand that are trying to produce biodiesel from non-food crops such as jatropha (saboo dum or “black soap” in Thai), certain seaweeds and other plants. 

A much-asked question is whether biodiesel obtained from various plants have the same qualities and whether the engine requires any modifications. People also want to know whether engines that can run on various ratios of palm oil biodiesel can use fuel that contains biodiesel from other plants, or whether they can be mixed with diesel in the same ratio as palm biodiesel. 

My answer each time is to forget about what plants are used to obtain biodiesel. It’s the oil companies which should be most concerned about this, as they run detailed tests to make sure the biodiesel mixed into diesel fuel has properties that do not conflict with the base diesel fuel. 

Then the oil companies take the biodiesel to automobile companies for further testing until they are confident that there are no side-effects to the engine. Otherwise, it’s the auto companies’ reputation that be damaged. 

And when the auto company accepts the biodiesel quality, we consumers can use the fuel without any concern. So just don’t worry which plant biodiesel comes from.