Anybody can make biodiesel. It's easy, you can make it in your cooking area-- and it's BETTER than the petro-diesel fuel the huge oil business offer you. Your diesel motor will run better and last longer on your home-made fuel, and it's much cleaner-- better for the environment and much better for health.

If you make it from used it's not just inexpensive but you'll be recycling a frustrating waste item. Most importantly is the GREAT feeling of flexibility, independence and empowerment it will give you. Here's how to do it-- whatever you need to know.

Straight vegetable oil fuel (SVO) systems can be a tidy, efficient and economical alternative. Unlike biodiesel, with SVO you have to modify the engine. The best method is to fit an expert singletank SVO system with replacement injectors and glowplugs optimised for veg-oil, as well as fuel heating.

With the German Elsbett single-tank SVO system for circumstances you can use petro-diesel, biodiesel or SVO, in any mix. Just start up and go, stop and change off, like any other vehicle. Journey to Forever's Toyota TownAce van utilizes an Elsbett single-tank system. More

There are likewise two-tank SVO systems which pre-heat the oil to make it thinner. You have to start the engine on ordinary petroleum diesel or biodiesel in one tank and then switch to SVO in the other tank when the veg-oil is hot enough, and change back to petro- or biodiesel before you stop the engine, or you'll coke up the injectors.

More details on straight vegetable oil systems in my blog.

3. Biodiesel or SVO?

Biodiesel has some clear benefits over SVO: it operates in any diesel, with no conversion or modifications to the engine or the fuel system-- just put it in and go. It likewise has better cold-weather properties than SVO (but not as excellent as petro-diesel-- see Using biodiesel in winter season). Unlike SVO,

it's backed by lots of long-term tests in lots of countries, including millions of miles on the roadway.

Biodiesel is a clean, safe, ready-to-use, alternative fuel, whereas it's reasonable to say that many SVO systems are still speculative and require more advancement.

On the other hand, biodiesel can be more pricey, depending how much you make, what you make it from and whether you're comparing it with new oil or used oil (and depending on where you live). And unlike SVO, it has actually to be processed initially.

But the big and quickly growing around the world band of homebrewers don't mind-- they make a supply each week or once a month and soon get used to it. Many have actually been doing it for years.

Anyway you need to process SVO too, especially WVO (waste grease, utilized, prepared), which many individuals with SVO systems utilize due to the fact that it's inexpensive or complimentary for the taking. With WVO food particles and pollutants and water need to be gotten rid of, and it most likely ought to be deacidified too. Biodieselers state, "If I'm going to need to do all that I might too make biodiesel rather." But SVO types scoff at that-- it's much less processing than making biodiesel, they state. To each his own.