Anybody can make biodiesel. It's simple, 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 much 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 utilized cooking oil it's not only inexpensive but you'll be recycling a troublesome waste item. Most importantly is the GREAT sensation of freedom, self-reliance and empowerment it will offer you. Here's how to do it-- whatever you need to know.

Straight vegetable oil fuel (SVO) systems can be a tidy, effective and cost-effective alternative. Unlike biodiesel, with SVO you need to modify the engine. The very best method is to fit an expert 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 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 need to begin the engine on common petroleum diesel or biodiesel in one tank and after that 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 information on straight vegetable oil systems in my blog.

3. Biodiesel or SVO?

Biodiesel has some clear benefits over SVO: it works in any diesel, with no conversion or adjustments to the engine or the fuel system-- simply put it in and go. It also has much better cold-weather properties than SVO (but not as good as petro-diesel-- see Using biodiesel in winter). Unlike SVO,

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

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

On the other hand, biodiesel can be more costly, depending 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 initially.

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

Anyway you have to process SVO too, especially WVO (waste grease, used, prepared), which many individuals with SVO systems use because it's low-cost or free for the taking. With WVO food particles and pollutants and water should be gotten rid of, and it most likely ought to be deacidified too. Biodieselers say, "If I'm going to have to do all that I may also make biodiesel instead." But SVO types scoff at that-- it's much less processing than making biodiesel, they state. To each his own.