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

If you make it from used cooking oil it's not just low-cost but you'll be recycling a troublesome waste item. Best of all is the GREAT sensation of liberty, independence and empowerment it will give you. Here's how to do it-- whatever you require to understand.

Straight vegetable oil fuel (SVO) systems can be a clean, effective and economical alternative. Unlike biodiesel, with SVO you need to modify the engine. The best method is to fit a professional singletank SVO system with replacement injectors and glowplugs optimised for veg-oil, in addition to fuel heating.

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

There are also two-tank SVO systems which pre-heat the oil to make it thinner. You have to begin the engine on normal 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 information on straight veggie oil systems in my blog.

3. Biodiesel or SVO?

Biodiesel has some clear advantages over SVO: it operates in any diesel, without any conversion or adjustments to the engine or the fuel system-- just put it in and go. It also has much better cold-weather residential or commercial properties than SVO (but not as excellent as petro-diesel-- see Using biodiesel in winter season). Unlike SVO,

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

Biodiesel is a clean, safe, ready-to-use, alternative fuel, whereas it's fair to state that many SVO systems are still experimental and need further development.

On the other hand, biodiesel can be more expensive, 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 needs to be processed first.

But the large and quickly growing around the world band of homebrewers do not mind-- they make a supply each week or as soon as a month and quickly get utilized to it. Many have been doing it for years.

Anyway you have to process SVO too, specifically WVO (waste grease, used, prepared), which many individuals with SVO systems use because it's inexpensive or complimentary for the taking. With WVO food particles and impurities and water must be gotten rid of, and it probably ought to be deacidified too. Biodieselers state, "If I'm going to have to do all that I may also make biodiesel rather." But SVO types discount that-- it's much less processing than making biodiesel, they say. To each his own.