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 big oil companies sell you. Your diesel motor 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 utilized cooking oil it's not only inexpensive but you'll be recycling a frustrating waste product. Most importantly is the GREAT feeling of flexibility, self-reliance and empowerment it will offer you. Here's how to do it-- everything you need to know.

Straight vegetable oil fuel (SVO) systems can be a clean, efficient and affordable option. Unlike biodiesel, with SVO you need to customize the engine. The finest method is to fit an expert singletank SVO system with replacement injectors and glowplugs optimised for veg-oil, along with fuel heating.

With the German Elsbett single-tank SVO system for example you can utilize petro-diesel, biodiesel or SVO, in any mix. Just launch and go, stop and turn off, like any other cars and truck. 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 begin the engine on normal petroleum diesel or biodiesel in one tank and then change 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 veggie oil systems in my blog.

3. Biodiesel or SVO?

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

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

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

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 brand-new oil or utilized oil (and depending upon where you live). And unlike SVO, it needs to be processed first.

But the large and rapidly 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 many years.

Anyway you need to process SVO too, especially WVO (waste veggie oil, utilized, cooked), which many individuals with SVO systems use due to the fact that it's cheap or complimentary for the taking. With WVO food particles and impurities and water should be removed, and it most likely ought to be deacidified too. Biodieselers say, "If I'm going to need to do all that I may too make biodiesel rather." But SVO types discount that-- it's much less processing than making biodiesel, they say. To each his own.