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 big oil companies offer you. Your diesel motor will run better and last longer on your home-made fuel, and it's much cleaner-- much better for the environment and better for health.

If you make it from utilized cooking oil it's not only low-cost however you'll be recycling a problematic waste item. Most importantly is the GREAT sensation of freedom, self-reliance and empowerment it will give you. Here's how to do it-- whatever you require to know.

Straight veggie oil fuel (SVO) systems can be a tidy, efficient and cost-effective choice. Unlike biodiesel, with SVO you have to modify the engine. The very best method is to fit a professional 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 example you can use petro-diesel, biodiesel or SVO, in any combination. Just begin up and go, stop and turn off, like any other automobile. Journey to Forever's Toyota TownAce van uses an Elsbett single-tank system. More

There are likewise two-tank SVO systems which pre-heat the oil to make it thinner. You need to start 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 info on straight vegetable oil systems in my blog.

3. Biodiesel or SVO?

Biodiesel has some clear benefits over SVO: it works in any diesel, without any conversion or adjustments to the engine or the fuel system-- just put it in and go. It likewise has much better cold-weather homes than SVO (however not as great as petro-diesel-- see Using biodiesel in winter). Unlike SVO,

it's backed by many long-lasting tests in lots of nations, including countless miles on the road.

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

On the other hand, biodiesel can be more costly, depending just how much you make, what you make it from and whether you're comparing it with new oil or utilized 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 don't mind-- they make a supply every week or once a month and quickly get used to it. Many have actually been doing it for several years.

Anyway you have to process SVO too, specifically WVO (waste grease, used, cooked), which many individuals with SVO systems utilize due to the fact that it's low-cost or complimentary for the taking. With WVO food particles and pollutants and water should be removed, and it probably ought to be deacidified too. Biodieselers state, "If I'm going to need to do all that I might also make biodiesel rather." But SVO types belittle that-- it's much less processing than making biodiesel, they say. To each his own.