In this work, standard diesel, neat biodiesel, biodiesel(85%)-methanol(15%) (B85M15) and biodiesel(85%)-ethanol(15%) (B85E15) fuels are tested. Experiments are carried out using a two-cylinder, 4-cycle, direct injected, water-cooled diesel engine at five loads between no load and a full load of 3000 rpm. Performance and emission characteristics of the engine fueled with biodiesel-ethanol and biodiesel-methanol blends were compared to neat biodiesel and standard diesel fuel as the baseline fuels. Overall, biodiesel-alcohol blends, as compared to diesel, reduce NO emissions while increasing CO and HC emissions, at below 70% loads. It is also shown that biodiesel-ethanol blend is more effective than biodiesel-methanol for emission reduction and overall engine performance. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.