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 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 cooking oil it's not just cheap but you'll be recycling a troublesome waste item. Most importantly is the GREAT feeling of freedom, independence and empowerment it will provide you. Here's how to do it-- whatever you need to understand.

Straight grease fuel (SVO) systems can be a tidy, efficient and affordable option. Unlike biodiesel, with SVO you have to modify the engine. The very best way is to fit an expert 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 launch 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 ordinary petroleum diesel or biodiesel in one tank and then change to SVO in the other tank when the veg-oil is hot enough, and switch 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, without any conversion or modifications to the engine or the fuel system-- simply put it in and go. It likewise has better cold-weather residential or commercial properties than SVO (but not as great as petro-diesel-- see Using biodiesel in winter season). Unlike SVO,

it's backed by lots of long-lasting tests in numerous nations, consisting of countless miles on the roadway.

Biodiesel is a tidy, safe, ready-to-use, alternative fuel, whereas it's reasonable to say that numerous SVO systems are still speculative and need additional development.

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 upon where you live). And unlike SVO, it has to be processed first.

But the big and rapidly growing worldwide band of homebrewers do not mind-- they make a supply every week or as soon as a month and quickly get utilized to it. Many have actually been doing it for several years.

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