Anybody can make biodiesel. It's simple, you can make it in your kitchen 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 better for health.

If you make it from utilized cooking oil it's not just low-cost however you'll be recycling a frustrating waste item. Most importantly is the GREAT feeling of flexibility, independence and empowerment it will provide you. Here's how to do it-- everything you need to know.

Straight grease fuel (SVO) systems can be a clean, reliable and economical option. Unlike biodiesel, with SVO you need to modify the engine. The best way is to fit a professional 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 begin up and go, stop and switch off, like any other cars and truck. Journey to Forever's Toyota TownAce van uses 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 regular 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 information 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-- simply put it in and go. It likewise has much better cold-weather residential or commercial properties than SVO (but not as good as petro-diesel-- see Using biodiesel in winter). Unlike SVO,

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

Biodiesel is a tidy, safe, ready-to-use, alternative fuel, whereas it's fair to say that many SVO systems are still speculative 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 to be processed first.

But the large and rapidly growing worldwide band of homebrewers don't mind-- they make a supply every week or once a month and soon get used to it. Many have actually been doing it for many years.

Anyway you have to process SVO too, particularly WVO (waste grease, used, cooked), which lots of people with SVO systems use since it's cheap or totally free for the taking. With WVO food particles and pollutants and water need to be eliminated, and it most likely should be deacidified too. Biodieselers state, "If I'm going to have to do all that I may as well make biodiesel instead." But SVO types belittle that-- it's much less processing than making biodiesel, they say. To each his own.