Anybody can make biodiesel. It's simple, you can make it in your kitchen-- and it's BETTER than the petro-diesel fuel the big oil business sell 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 much better for health.

If you make it from used cooking oil it's not only inexpensive but you'll be recycling a frustrating waste item. Most importantly is the GREAT sensation of flexibility, self-reliance and empowerment it will provide you. Here's how to do it-- everything you require to understand.

Straight grease fuel (SVO) systems can be a clean, effective and economical alternative. 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, along with fuel heating.

With the German Elsbett single-tank SVO system for instance you can use petro-diesel, biodiesel or SVO, in any combination. Just launch and go, stop and turn off, like any other vehicle. 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 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 switch back to petro- or biodiesel before you stop the engine, or you'll coke up the injectors.

More information on straight grease 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 (however not as good as petro-diesel-- see Using biodiesel in winter season). Unlike SVO,

it's backed by numerous long-lasting tests in numerous nations, including millions of miles on the road.

Biodiesel is a tidy, safe, ready-to-use, alternative fuel, whereas it's fair to state that lots of SVO systems are still experimental and require more development.

On the other hand, biodiesel can be more expensive, depending just 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 has actually to be processed first.

But the big and quickly growing around the world band of homebrewers do not mind-- they make a supply every week or once a month and soon get used to it. Many have been doing it for many years.

Anyway you have to process SVO too, specifically WVO (waste vegetable oil, utilized, prepared), which many individuals with SVO systems utilize because it's low-cost or complimentary for the taking. With WVO food particles and impurities and water need to be gotten rid of, and it most likely should be deacidified too. Biodieselers state, "If I'm going to have to do all that I might as well make biodiesel rather." But SVO types discount that-- it's much less processing than making biodiesel, they say. To each his own.