How To Make Bio Diesel |
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Peter Ryan
18 November 2008
It feels great to fill up your vehicle with inexpensive, clean, renewable, non-foreign fuel!
Bio diesel reduces pollution up to 90% because it has no sulphur in it and adds almost no carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Bio Diesel comes from plants that take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and release oxygen. The plants convert the carbon dioxide to oil so when the oil is burned and carbon dioxide is released, it is a small net increase of carbon dioxide. Because it comes from plants it is renewable. It is also easy on your wallet because it only about $1.50 per gallon to make. The fact that we do not have to buy it from foreign countries is also a huge bonus .
Bio diesel can be used in any regular diesel engine such as cars, trucks, tractors, heavy equipment and even generators without modification. It can be used in any combination with petrol diesel from 100% (B100) to 1% (B1). We usually run B100 in the warm months and B50 to B75 in the colder months to keep the fuel from jelling.
Making your own Bio diesel does take some time and equipment but the process is relatively simple. It is a "low tech" process so almost anyone can do it.
I have always felt that the grass roots public will have to solve this energy crisis. For some reason I do not have confidence that big government, big automakers, and big oil companies will ever solve the problems of pollution, cost and foreign dependence. Maybe it is the fact that they do not want to solve these problems and in fact they have a vested interest in keeping things the way they are, which means unbelievable profits, and/or tax revenues and tremendous power. That is why they want to build a Hydrogen Economy so they can continue to have control over the energy. Whereas, Bio diesel could be done by any number of small producers, which would eliminate the ability of a few huge companies or suppliers to control the energy and the prices.
There is not near enough land available to produce enough vegetable oil for our fuel needs using, corn, soy, rapeseed or palm oil but there is enough land available to produce enough vegetable oil for our fuel need using algae. More on this topic later in our series about Bio diesel.
For now lets see how to make our own Bio diesel.
The first thing that you need to find out is what regulations (if any) your local government (usually County) has on picking up and transporting used vegetable oil. Most smaller counties have no regulations and require no permits. Some of the larger counties do, so check with the Health Department of your county and see if a permit is required and what it takes to obtain one. The other permit that may be required is a processing plant permit.
Check this at the same time. Hopefully there will be none required in you area. If there are permits required you must take this into account when looking at the total cost of producing the diesel. One individual in my county even moved to a neighboring county so he could make his own fuel.
The second step is to locate a supply of used fryer oil. At first this may seem daunting, but as you get into it you realize that there are many sources for oil. Restaurants have been our best source but grocery stores, hospitals, retirement homes, private school kitchens, festivals, large churches that have commercial kitchens, gas stations that sell fried chicken etc. all have oil they need to dispose of.
In the next article we'll go into more detail about this process.