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"We have very clear guidelines as to how you should treat the fuel, as well as service the [equipment]. Watch the amount of water in the fuel. Don't let it sit idle for longer periods of time. Carefully monitor the condition of your oil," Hall advises. "If you follow those guidelines, I don't think there will be any impact on [equipment] performance. But you do have to pay much more attention to that than you would with petroleum-based diesel."

This is because biodiesel is more prone to water absorption. "So care must be taken in order to remove water from the fuel system, because water accelerates microbial contamination and growth," says Stearns.

Hall recommends draining water out of the fuel/water separators on a more regular basis. "It is just an education process here that we want customers to be aware of so they don't get caught with clogged filters, lower performance or rusting in the fuel system," he states. "We have a procedure that we specify they follow if they want to use biodiesels."

Economic incentives
Ultimately, tax incentives may prove to be the major market driver behind adoption of renewable biodiesel blends.

"There are obvious tax incentives, depending upon what state you are operating in," says Stearns.