Photo: Mazda
Mazda entered a Demio in this season's last race of the Super Taikyu endurance racing championship. The racecar was based on a stock Demio 1.5 SkyActiv-D, but it was running entirely on biofuel. Next year, it will race the entire season with the new fuel.
Mazda's Demio, known as the Mazda 2 in multiple other markets, was entered into the ST-Q class, which is a non-championship category that is meant to showcase experimental vehicles and innovative technology. In this case, Mazda was testing a new kind of diesel.
Instead of the regular diesel one might find at a fuel filling station near you, the one used by Mazda was made from cooking oil and microalgae fats. The marque did not detail how the blend was obtained, but it is safe to assume that it was filtered and refined before being pumped into the tank.
As some of you may know, modern diesel engines cannot run on cooking oil, as some engines of yesteryear could have done with a few precautions. The high pressures involved in common rail systems are incompatible with cooking oil, which may clog the injectors, the high-pressure fuel pump, the fuel rail, or may damage the fuel system or engine in some other way.
That is why Mazda is experimenting with used cooking oil and microalgae fats, which might change the dynamic of the resulting fuel. Mazda has also underlined the fact that the next-generation biodiesel fuels used do not compete with the human food supply.
In other words, the alternative fuel tested by Mazda does not require a different choice of crops. Instead, it works with sustainably sourced raw materials such as microalgae fats, along with used cooking oil. The latter can affect water sources if it is spilled in the drainage system. Please responsibly dispose of used cooking oil.
Previously, Mazda benchmarked the new kind of biodiesel with conventional fuel, and lab results showed no difference in performance. The resulting biofuel is called Susteo, and it was supplied by Euglena.
Mazda's entry in this race is because the vehicle manufacturer is part of Hiroshima's Your Green Fuel project. The latter has the goal of obtaining carbon-neutral fuels while revitalizing regional areas by involving a complex value chain in the supply and manufacturing process.
Instead of the regular diesel one might find at a fuel filling station near you, the one used by Mazda was made from cooking oil and microalgae fats. The marque did not detail how the blend was obtained, but it is safe to assume that it was filtered and refined before being pumped into the tank.
As some of you may know, modern diesel engines cannot run on cooking oil, as some engines of yesteryear could have done with a few precautions. The high pressures involved in common rail systems are incompatible with cooking oil, which may clog the injectors, the high-pressure fuel pump, the fuel rail, or may damage the fuel system or engine in some other way.
That is why Mazda is experimenting with used cooking oil and microalgae fats, which might change the dynamic of the resulting fuel. Mazda has also underlined the fact that the next-generation biodiesel fuels used do not compete with the human food supply.
In other words, the alternative fuel tested by Mazda does not require a different choice of crops. Instead, it works with sustainably sourced raw materials such as microalgae fats, along with used cooking oil. The latter can affect water sources if it is spilled in the drainage system. Please responsibly dispose of used cooking oil.
Previously, Mazda benchmarked the new kind of biodiesel with conventional fuel, and lab results showed no difference in performance. The resulting biofuel is called Susteo, and it was supplied by Euglena.
Mazda's entry in this race is because the vehicle manufacturer is part of Hiroshima's Your Green Fuel project. The latter has the goal of obtaining carbon-neutral fuels while revitalizing regional areas by involving a complex value chain in the supply and manufacturing process.
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