An Economic Analysis of Small-Scale Biodiesel Production: Implementation of Ethyl Ester Production in a Job Shop Setting

Abstract

Biodiesel is becoming a demanded consumer automotive alternative fuel used in diesel vehicles today. An emerging trend is toward small-scale biodiesel production performed by the final consumer. A limited source of commercially available production systems exists and has resulted in many systems being designed and built by the user. Preliminary research conducted by the authors has shown biodiesel to be the least-cost alternative to petroleum diesel after as few as 8 months of system use. This study examines the economic viability of building and producing biodiesel using a small-scale production system versus buying consumer petroleum diesel. During production, measurements were taken to determine la bor hours, energy consumed and total cost of system construction. These results generate an economic view of biodiesel production.