The difference between biodiesel and biofuel is that one is a fuel and the other is a category of fuels. When examining or comparing biodiesel and biofuel, it's important to know that biodiesel is actually a biofuel. Biofuels are fuels made from components other than petroleum products such as alcohol, methanol, soy and a myriad of others. Biodiesel is made from vegetable oils instead of petroleum, so it is classified as a biofuel. In the comparison of biodiesel and biofuel, it is also helpful for individuals to remember that biodiesel is a single product while biofuel is the name for many different fuels, from firewood to human and animal waste and landfill fumes.

With the cost of petroleum-based fuels climbing higher and higher and the collective world's conscious leaning towards a greener way of existing, more and more people are talking about biodiesel and biofuel. While gaining in interest and becoming the topic of more and more conversations, there remains a great deal of confusion as to what constitutes biodiesel and biofuel. While biodiesel is a relatively new concept, biofuel has been used by humans since the early cave-dwellers learned to cook food and heat their caves with an open fire. Biofuel can be best identified as a type of fuel made from a decaying biological material such as wood or garbage that is burned in an incinerator or animal and vegetable fat.

While biodiesel and biofuel may be aiding in the release from the United States' dependency on foreign oil, products such as E-85 gasoline are not biofuels. By adding 15 percent of gasoline content to the ethanol-based fuel, the petroleum-based gasoline prohibits the fuel from being a biofuel. In a matter of speaking, fossil fuels are technically biofuels due to their creation from fossil or dinosaur decomposition. The key difference is that biofuels are renewable, where fossil fuels are not.

When examining biodiesel and biofuel, the fuels produce more energy than is required to make them. This makes both biodiesel and biofuel excellent sources of renewable energy that are capable of being produced entirely within a single country from crops and animals that are raised by local farmers. From an ecological viewpoint, biodiesel and biofuel release 70 percent less carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere when burned as compared to diesel fuel.