Opportunities, Challenges and Future Prospects of Production and Usage of Jatropha Biodiesel as Road Transport Fuel in Romania

Abstract

Primarily, Romania relies on fossil fuels for its energy needs in transport sector. Increase in prices of conventional fuels, climate change and energy security are the reasons to find alternate solutions. China, Japan, Belgium, Brazil, Tanzania, Mexico, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and South Africa are already using jatropha biodiesel blends with fossil fuels. Keeping in view food security, Romania has sufficient land to cultivate jatropha. In this paper we tried to find out opportunities to cultivate jatropha in Romania and its economic comparison with fossil fuel usage. On the basis of this study, recommendations will be made for the usage of jatropha biodiesel as future road transport fuel in Romania.

Biodiesel as a transport fuel, advantages and disadvantages: review

“…Biodiesel, as an alternative to fossil diesel, has a number of positive characteristics that could be taken as potential opportunities in an effort to substitute it in place of diesel fuel for the transport sector. These include the major advantages indicated above such as its biodegradability, non‐toxicity, high oxygen content, and having no sulfur emission, which make it an environmentally friendly fuel for the transport sector 74 . Moreover, the availability of various feedstock options and production processes could make biodiesel fuel production more decentralized and smaller scale.…”