UC-Riverside evaluates biodiesel for California

In California, researchers at the University of California, Riverside’s College of Engineering – Center for Environmental Research and Technology are working with the state of California to develop diesel formulations with higher levels of renewable biofuels. In the first major step of this effort, researchers at CE-CERT have evaluated the potential impacts of using biodiesel in diesel sold through California. Biodiesel may provide significant reductions in carbon dioxide emissions because it is produced from renewable sources, such as soybeans, that absorb carbon dioxide while growing. Biodiesel use and production is already expanding rapidly in the United States. Over the past decade, it jumped from 2 million gallons in 2002 to 1.1 billion gallons in 2011, according to the National Biodiesel Board.