Biodiesel is used in typical diesel engines. This feature differentiates it from other vegetable oil-based fuels that are consumed by converted diesel machine engines. Most converted fuels are usually in the form of ethanol. Biodiesel may be used on its own or be fortified with conventional diesel, which is commonly referred to as petro diesel.

This means that biodiesel is more environmentally-friendly vis-à-vis petro diesel. Secondly, biodiesel has more solvent properties as compared to petro diesel. This implies that it is easier to combust biodiesel in totality as opposed to petro diesel. Additionally, since biodiesel is a derivative of animal and plant products, it is highly biodegradable. On the other hand, the components of petro diesel may take years and number of chemicals methods to degrade.

On an economic scale, biodiesel is slightly more expensive than petro diesel. This is because of the biological and chemical processes involved in the synthesis of various components of biodiesel. Thus from a monetary point of view, biodiesel may not be a solution during times of economic crisis. Nevertheless, the negative side of the high cost of biodiesel is counteracted by its being friendly to the environment. While petro diesel may be slightly cheaper than biodiesel, the negative externalities concomitant with its production outweigh its economic benefits. It is inarguable that most of the pollution that has occurred across the globe can be attributed to burning of fuels mostly diesel, or its use in various capacities. On the other hand, the production of biodiesel involves clean processes whose impact to the environment is largely inconsequential, which defends its high cost. Research findings show that adoption of biodiesel in every engine would minimize oil related pollution by 78 percent.

It may be costly to produce biodiesel but its benefits definitely outweigh the costs. Thus, the use biodiesel globally would save the earth from the adverse effects of pollution associated with use of petro diesel.