A biofuel additive that will allow for the greater use of waste products from abattoirs has been developed at Adelaide's Flinders University.
The additive lowers the temperature at which tallow-based biodiesel solidifies, a problem which causes fuel flow difficulties.
Flinders University Materials and Bioenergy Group leader Stephen Clarke said there was a huge potential market for tallow-based biofuels.
"The additive that Flinders has developed removes one of the major impediments to the use of tallow-based biofuels and this market could expand considerably, perhaps to around one billion litres a year," Dr Clarke said.
The university's industry partner, Meat and Livestock Australia, has secured a provisional patent over the additive which can lower the solidification temperature of tallow-based diesel blends to minus 6 degrees celsius.
The temperature change will boost the potential to use tallow-based biofuel in colder parts of Australia and cooler climates in Europe.
Biodiesel fuel is generally prepared from a blend of lipids, such as used cooking oils, tallow and vegetable oils such as canola, soyabean and palm oil.