Making Biodiesel

Fuel Prices Set to Rocket - Start Making your Own Fuel!

2011-03-03T07:05:00.000-08:00

Looking at the news I'm afraid its all bad as far as fuel prices go.

The USA has not allowed the drilling and pumping to start again single the disaster in the bay and cancelled 70+ exploratory drilling operations on land.

That can only result in less tax income for the government and less capacity at the pump - even Saudi Arabia cannot increase output enough to cover the deficit.

That all adds up to a price hike for joe average. Want my prediction? I predict that prices in the USA will hit $7 a gallon early this year. The UK is already there and they need to brace themselves for at least a 10% non tax based rise this year just because of the fall in supply.

2011 will see the highest prices for fuel in living memory. Don't wait any longer, go out invest in the equipment and start making your own biodiesel at home this month. With these price hikes the return on investment can be measured in months - and that means more money in your pockets for the things you love.

UK Government Pushes Fuel Prices Sky High

2011-02-26T14:42:00.000-08:00

If ever you needed a financial incentive to make biodiesel at home then the government can certainly be credited with making it more and more cost effective.

Bear in mind we are in the hight of an international recession and the UK government having already demonstrated its total inability to manage the economy has compounded this by demonstrating its out and out greed.

The last time I benchmarked the fuel price in the UK it was £1.11 per litre - of that 65% went to the government 56.2p in fuel duty and 16.7p in vat. Of course since then both fuel duty and vat have both been..........(unbelievably) INCREASED!

If you are sick of being robbed blind by these useless, unaccountable amateurs then I strongly suggest that you invest in a small biodiesel processor, switch to a diesel car and start making your own fuel because as far as I can see the price is only going to keep on going up at the pump.

You'll here all sorts of excuses coming from the muppets that "run" the country, it will no doubt include "responsible cuts and spending", "reducing the nations debt" and of course "the environment, carbon emissions" . All the usual hogwash to cover up the fact that they were reckless for 12 years of bad government and now need to squeeze every penny they can out of the population.

Making biodiesel might be about being green for some of you. For me its about being in control of my hard earned cash instead of having the governments hands in my pockets at every possible moment.

How to Winter-Proof Your Biodiesel

2008-09-18T02:16:00.000-07:00

Once again the leaves are turning brown and the temperatures are dropping which means that it’s time to start thinking about the impact on your biodiesel. I’m going to show you the quick, cheap and easy ways to stay out of trouble with biodiesel this winter.

As you know oils and fats gel and eventually solidify as the temperature falls. The more saturated the fat the worse it is. So animal based fats (tallows) are going to fur up pretty quickly, and any gelling means that you won’t be able to drive until you raise the temperature of the fuel.

Our fellows in the veg-oil camp have gotten round this for years with a simple in line heater to raise the temperature around their secondary veg oil tank and fuel line. For sure you can do this if you are running on biodiesel and those of you in the coldest states will already have access to plug-in systems that keep your auto warm when the snow is good and thick on the ground.

For the rest of us I offer the following strategies:

Start by making your biodiesel from canola oil (sometimes called rape-seed oil) as canola has a much better gel point than any other oil.
DON’T mess about with methanol or paraffin as an additive, it’s just not worth the risk. I have tried concentrations up to 25% in the past with very patchy results at best.
Start by adding 20% regular diesel to your fuel (if you normally run B100) as the temperature drops increasing steadily to 50% if it gets really cold.
Use the soda bottle n jerry can trick below.
Use a proprietary additive.

OK this may sound a little childish but this is the trick that I have used to stay out of trouble over winter. Every time I put a batch of biodiesel in my auto I half fill a clear soda bottle with the same batch and leave it by the drivers door. When I come out in the morning I take a look at the soda bottle and if there is any gelling in the bottle I know I need to take action.

In the trunk I keep a 2 gallon jerry can of the best petro diesel money can buy which I simply add to the tank if there is any sign of gel in the soda bottle. So far this has kept me running BUT if the gelling in the soda bottle is severe then simply adding any additive won’t solve the problem – so you have been warned start blending early in the season and watch those weather forecasts!

A number of good commercial additives exist including the following:

· Wintron Synergy (I have seen this one in action and can vouch that it works well down to -10C)

· Arctic Express Biodiesel Antigel – good for treating B20 down to -40F

Only you can decide whether the cost and fuss of mixing these in is worth the hassle to you – as always I will continue to take the easy route and just add regular diesel!

I wish you a happy fall and winter motoring season.

Making Biodiesel Isn't Boring if you Have a Diesel Motorbike

2008-08-22T05:23:00.000-07:00

Despite vast improvements in diesel engines over the years I still here people saying that they wouldn't have a diesel because they are so boring (i.e. slow and low performance) to drive.

Of course I have to take exception to that (a) because these days it simply isn't true and (b) of course I want people and society to reap the benefits of making biodiesel at home.

So I was delighted when quite by accident I discovered a whole new world of diesel motoring in the form of diesel motorcycles - yes you read that right, motorcycles with diesel engines. I quickly found dozens of suppliers of these fine machines :

This is the Sommer, but Diesel Bikes lists dozens of suppliers of diesel bikes of every shape and size your heart could desire.

And yes of course these bikes will run on biodiesel blends as high as 80%. Typically the bikes run Yanmar diesels displacing just over 400cc which means a power output of around 8kw or upto 15 bhp although some 1 litre examples are available and options such as inter-cooled turbochargers add even more fund to the mix.

If you make your own biodiesel then you'll find your $1 a gallon home-made fuel goes a very long way indeed with bikes demonstrating well over 100mpg! The Somer above delivers 117mpg on average along with classic looks that will leave most weak at the knees.

OK on a standard bike you may not ever win a MotoGP or even come close but then again with the sun on your face, the wind in your hair and 117+ miles to the gallon under your right hand - do you really care?

Why “The cost of fuel will continue to rise” is a lie – and why it means you must start making your own fuel at home.

2008-08-18T10:25:00.000-07:00

It seems like every day now I read or here somewhere some luminary saying that no matter what the cost of fuel will continue to rise. The fact is that’s a lie. Let me qualify that; I can say for certain that the cost of fuel does not have to rise, it’s a choice.

Since the summer the fuel you buy at the pump whether gasoline or diesel is blended 5% with biofuel – ethanol in the case of gasoline and biodiesel in the case of diesel. As part of the governments plan this will be progressively increased over the coming years to 20%.

Simply put that means that 20% of the fuel that goes into your tank will not be dependant on the price of fossil oil. But will that mean that the cost of the fuel you put in your tank goes down by 20%. Sadly no. In fact you’ll be lucky if it just stays the same.

Why? Afterall biofuel is cheap and easy to make. It can be made locally from local waste products removing transpostation costs and waste processing costs. Duty on biofuel is discounted – so why won’t the price of fuel go down like it should?

Your government has a vested intrest in maintaining the cost of fuel – it is one of the highest reliable tax earners in the governments arsenal. They know that after a century of promoting private car ownership and use they have created a captive market of fuel users. We have followed their advice and built our career choices, social lives and family lives around the automobile and the fuel it runs on.

Fuel Duty in the UK is £0.5035 per litre (2.2890/imperial gal or £1.91/US gal). Value Added Tax (VAT), currently at 17.5%, is also charged on the price of the fuel and on the duty. At a pump price of 128.8p/litre (typical for diesel as at May 2008), this would put the combined tax at 69.53p/litre, or approximately USD$5.20 per US gallon. Thus without tax, the retail price would be 59.26p per litre, making a combined tax rate of 117%. Fuel taxes in the United States vary by state. For the first quarter of 2008, the average state gasoline tax was 28.6 cents per US gallon, plus 18.4 cents per US gallon federal tax making the total 47 cents per US gallon (56 ¢/imperia gal; 12.4 ¢/L). For diesel, the average state tax is 29.2 cents per US gallon plus an additional 24.4 cents per US gallon federal tax making the total 53.6 cents US per gallon (64.3 ¢/imperial gal; 14.2 ¢/L).

Why else do you imagine with two viable, long range performance electric cars now available from two manufacturers (the UK Lightning and the US Tesla) that the government hasn’t leapt into action to promote the technologies they have developed, to subsidise their manufacture to ensure that we all drive clean green machines? Because with your garage roof covered in solar cells and a usable electric car in the garage you don’t have to pay them a bean!

So instead the government will continue to charge up to 117% tax on fuel - regardless of what actually goes into your tank.

Fortunately whatever side of the atlantic you are on there IS something you can do about it. You can make biodiesel at home, you can even make ethanol at home. All the equipment you need can be purchased or assembled from £200/$400 upwards, the consumable supplies easily ordered online and the process in each case takes no more than a couple of hours in the weekend. The government even sanctions home production tax free (because they know most people won’t bother).

However unless you make biodiesel or make ethanol at home you are surrendering your self to a future or spiralling fuel costs, 85% of which will be government tax.

And consider this; the average cost of homemade biodiesel and ethanol is around £1/$2 per gallon, which if you do some simple napkin maths means Joe Average could easily save £2000 / $4000 per year, every year, and that’s just the average value.

Don't Beat up Oil Companies over the Price of Fuel - Make Your Own Instead

2008-08-16T02:28:00.000-07:00

I have to say every time I read a "letter to the editor" suggesting that the oil companies are profiteering at the expense of the common man it makes me furious.

Just once I wish the tabloid press would publish a front page frank and open article about where the profit in oil and gas production is going in this country. I should point out that when I say this country I mean the UK as that is where I find myself these days but don't panic I'll write on the US situation in the next article.

Lets take a quick look at taxation on oil production in the UK; the government here charges oil companies -

licensing (in the millions of dollars and time limited i.e. for "x" months) to explore for oil
Petroleum Revenue Tax (PRT a special tax just for this sector on 50% of profits)
Ring Fence Corporation Tax (RFCT a 30% tax)
Supplementary Charge on RFCT (an additional 10% tax added in 2002)

Then when the refined gas reaches the pump the UK Government charges -

65p ($1.30) per litre fuel duty
17.5% sales tax

So let me ask you this...who do you think is profiteering in the UK Oil business?

What can you do about it? For a start you can make your own fuel, at home for $1 a gallon. The UK government classes 2500 litres a year as tax free domestic production and in any case it would be all but impossible to police home production of fuel.

If you use petrol you can convert domestic and supermarket vegetable and fruit waste into alcohol with sugar yeast and brewing enzymes and distill it into ethanol.

I estimate from my own home production that the average person should have no problem in producing 60 litres of biodiesel and 10 litres of ethanol every week in less than 2 hours of direct effort for around a $1 a gallon - enough to save over $4000 a year in fuel costs!

Crazy European Biodiesel Race

2008-08-10T02:35:00.000-07:00

Hey there Biodiesel fans. I'm delighted to announce that a crazy Brit and his girlfriend have just announced a crazy biodiesel fuelled rally across Europe from the UK to Greece (..or is that grease...?)

Up to 20 entrants so far (and if you hurry you can still join them) will be driving 10+ year old diesels, many of them with 100,000+ miles on the clock from one side of the continent to the other.

But here's the thing - THEY MAKE THEIR OWN FUEL AS THEY GO!!!

No I'm serious! Each team has their own biodiesel processor in the back of the car/van/whatever; when they stop at the end of the day they go scavenging for used oil set up their processor and let it run overnight so they can refuel in the morning for the next days rallying!

Follow the greenest and grubbiest banger challenge ever. Start your diesel engines for the summer drive to the beaches of Greece, powered by waste cooking fat scavengened from restaurants and burger bars en-route.

Yes, they’ll be filling the tanks from chip fryers and schnitzel shops all the way down through Europe.

The challenge is to "Fat-Find" your way from the UK to the Mediterranean without using fossil fuels, and The Golden Lard Award awaits those that make it all the way on waste vegetable oil. Some teams will be running on pure grease, while others will be brewing up biodiesel from they fat they find on the way.

The 2-week trip, departs on August 16th: Diesel cars don't need to be converted to take part but it will be an advantage if they are.

2008 is the first time this has been attempted, and all fat-finding novices and pioneers are welcome.

If you can't join them for the entire trip then go and see them off from the Ace Cafe, North London on the 16th at 4pm and join us for the Sausage Smoke Cruise, through London following the Thames.

Or follow their insanity at www.fatfinding.com

I don't know about you but I'M IMPRESSED! Look if these guys can pull it off making biodiesel on the road then ANYONE can start making biodiesel at home, right??

Till next time.

Mike

Making Biodiesel is Better & Cheaper than Using the Train

2008-08-06T02:42:00.000-07:00

So I'm in the UK for a while as most of you know - and why not, it's one country where the government sure does like to tax the hell out of the automobile owner and especially their fuel.

Heck did you know that in the UK a US Gallon of Gas would cost $3.41 for the gas itself, plus $4.92 in government "fuel duty" (a tax), PLUS 17.5% sales tax on top!! What's that, about $10 a US gallon?!

Oh and that's just Gas by the way, Diesel is nearly 20% more expensive!!!!!

Anyhoo, I digress from my origonal story. I'm also a motorbike nut (and with the cost of gas in the UK you need to be......ok ok I know enough already) so I've been scouting around for a particular British bike I want, a Triumph.

I was lucky enough to find one, but at the other end of the country about 180 miles away according to my UK mapping software. So I jumped in the car which as it happens was empty, as an experiment I went to the local gas station and filled up. The total cost of the diesel was $150 or there abouts.

Driving the 180 miles (pretty fast I'll admit) used less than half a tank. I bought the bike ( a real piece of sex on two wheels I might add) and rode it home.

So the next day of course I have to take the train to collect the car. The cost of the simple, cheapest, 1 way ticket for the journey? Can you believe this? $125!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then of course I have to shell out $10 in cab fare from the station, so $130 in all for the same journey using public transportation. That's damn nearly $1 a mile.

Now the simple fact is WORST case scenario I can make my own biodiesel for $3 a US Gallon and BEST case I can get it down to just $1. My car will hold 10 UK Gallons thats 8.3 US Gallons, so a full tank of home made fuel will cost me between $8 and $25 and take me 440 miles.

Now I know I end most of my posts with the same childish rant these days but it's only because I want to save you guys from yourselves - BUY a biodiesel guide, MAKE a simple processor using a tea urn like I showed you last time - START MAKING BIODIESEL AT HOME.

Till next time.

How to Make Biodiesel at Home with a simple Machine you can put together for less tha $200!

2008-07-15T06:48:00.000-07:00

This is an excerpt from the Ultimate Biodiesel Guide 2008 (www.ultimate-biodiesel-guide.com):

One of the main objections I get from people when I talk to then about making biodiesel at home is that it takes a lot of fancy equipment and that it's expensive to get started. They've usually had a look on the web and found biodiesel processors like the FuelMeister and so on which cost upwards of $2000 dollars.

Now I know that with gas getting more expensive it's easier to justify spending money to make your own fuel but even so $2000 is $2000 bucks.

But what if you could put together a small processor for home use for less than $200, one that was small enough to run in your workshop? What if it required no welding, no mechanical skill, was safe reliable and easy to use? (..and this works for any country by the way..)

The good news is that I faced the same challenges when I started out. I'm no DIY exert I can tell you, and I sure as heck didn't have $2000 to spend. In the end the solution was simple....and here it is:

What the heck is it?

For the uninitiated this is called a "catering urn" - enter that into your search engine or ebay and you'll find you can pick these up for about $100 or less! Basically catering operations use these to keep up to 60 litres of water hot for tea and coffee at big events.

What's so Good about it?

To make biodiesel you need a reaction chamber that you can heat the oil in and add the methoxide to. That's exactly what this Urn is! It has a built in heating element, it even has a tap for easy draining!

Add to that it's stainless steel so it will handle the temperature and it's easy to clean. It's discreet, it's compact, it comes in a variety of capacities from 5 litres to 60 litres. It's just as safe as a "store bought" processor (maybe more safe....it's not plastic so it can't melt for a start).

Of course you will need some extra bits and pieces to complete your setup, a thermometer, something to stir the oil, some jerry cans for oil, biodiesel and methoxide etc etc. However there is no reason why you can't put together everything you need for $200 MAX.

So.........what's your excuse now for not making biodiesel at home?

All the best

Mike

Is Making Biodiesel Better than Public Transport?

2008-06-26T07:19:00.000-07:00

Well here I am in the UK. This is a country that really taxes the car owner and tries to brow beat the general public into using public transport - especially in major cities. It's a growing trend accross modern western socieites.

But is it right? Should you be looking to sell your car and take the bus?

Maybe my own experience in one of the UKs biggest cities will help provide the answer. I was in Birmingham, to watch a game of cricket (well it IS England). I should emphasise that this was a match scheduled months in advance, the numbers of attendees were known in advance, and the city itself spends over $240 Million each year on Transport.

After the match I joined the thousands of fans seeking a way back to the centre of town to catch trains etc home.The stadium sits at the cross roads of two major roads each with bus stops every few hundred yards.

So I stood at the nearest stop with about 100 other people, in the pouring rain (well it IS England) and watched in horror as not 1, not 2, not even 3 but 4 double decked buses passed right by with "out of service" signs. Then a 5th went through the intersection north/south also marked out of service.

So let me ask you this; if a major city with $240M to spend on transport can't organise enough buses at a known location at a known time for a known number of people - what chance is there for any town?

When you consider that the alternative is to jump into your own warm, comfortable car, parked just round the corner, and drive straight home on clean fuel that you made your self for a few dollars a tankfull - what are you going to do?

Join the Biodiesel Revolution...

2008-06-10T00:12:00.000-07:00

With the price at the pump rising by nearly a penny a week now is the time for ordinary people to join the biodiesel revolution - and I don't mean buying the stuff!

For just $200 in second hand parts and with no assembly required (so no mechanical skill needed....) you can put together a simple but effective biodiesel processor that you can operate from home making 30-40 litres of clean cheap fuel at a time.

I took a look at the VW Bluemotion2 this week. Ok I know it's not many peoples idea of a hot auto BUT....it looks good, it sounds good, it drives really nicely, and best of all - it gives a genuine 70 miles to the gallon of diesel. I'm guessing based on past experience that that will equate to between 65 and 75 miles to the allon of biodiesel.

So.....if you put together my little biodiesel processor (I can say build or assemble even because there is none of that to do) and had one of these VW Polo BlueMotion cars you could make enough fuel at home to travel 1950 miles every week.

Viva the revolution people!

Mike C

www.ultimate-biodiesel-guide.com

Biodiesel - Whether you Want it or Not!

2008-04-19T13:19:00.000-07:00

From April something new will be appearing in your fuel pump. There will be no visible difference to the eye, there has only been limited publicity and the chances are your local petrol station will not even be inclined to tell you what is happening.

In a bid to tackle carbon emissions from cars, the EU has introduced the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation. It stipulates that all petrol sold in the UK must include at least 2.5 per cent biofuels, rising to 5 per cent by 2010.

What are biofuels?

Biofuels are a renewable alternative to fossil fuels. To classify, the fuel must be made from biological materials, for example biodiesel is made from processed vegetable oils such as soya bean oil.

They are renewable fuels because in the case of plants they absorb carbon dioxide during their growth. So when burnt they are merely releasing what they have already absorbed. In effect, they are carbon neutral.

Learn more about making biodiesel

All cars can cope with a blend of up to 5 per cent biofuels without any modifications to the engine. Some specially designed models on the market can now take a blend containing up to 85 per cent biofuel.

Production of biofuels has soared in recent years as countries look for alternatives to oil, which has become increasingly expensive and whose supply is heavily dependent on politically unstable regions, such as the Middle East.

However, as countries like the United States and Brazil have turned from growing corn or sugar for food to using it to produce ethanol, it has had a devastating side effect; food prices have been going up.

Food wars

The more land farmers give over to producing energy crops the more food prices are pushed up by falling supplies of key crops. The issue is particularly acute in the Americas where at least a quarter of the US corn crop and more than half of Brazil's sugar cane crop is used for ethanol production.

However, European officials insist the continent is not contributing to the problem, with only 2 per cent of cereal production used for biofuels. But, there is no guarantee where the biofuels used in your petrol will come from. In addition, it’s not just instability in the food markets that is being blamed on biofuels.

Deforestation

The biggest concern of environmentalists is that as crops such as palm or soya bean become the new oil so more Asian and South American countries will be tempted to clear rainforests to grow them. Then not only would biodiversity-rich landscape be lost but also trees that absorbed vast quantities of carbon dioxide and helped reduce global carbon emissions.

Although recognising the benefits biofuels offer as an alternative to fossil fuels, many environmentalists now question whether we should be pushing ahead with adding them to our petrol just yet.

Friends of the Earth claim a recent poll found that almost 9 out of 10 Britons had no idea that biofuels were about to be added to their petrol. They argue that more resources should be put into making vehicles more fuel efficient and improving public transport.

“Most people will be horrified to know the Government is putting biofuels in our petrol when the damage they do to forests could make climate change worse,” said Friends of the Earth biofuels campaigner, Kenneth Richter. “People want to see real green transport solutions that will make a difference to their lives - like better public transport and smarter cars that burn less fuel,” he added.

Will the cost of Fuel go Down Then?

Absolutely not! Despite that fact that biodiesel can be mass produced cheaply from industrial waste and ethanol can be cheaply imported or produced locally you, the consumer, will not see one penny reduction in cost. So just as I predicted previously, it's not about the cost of oil at all, it's about the government putting their hand in your pocket for tax revenue on commodities they know you cannot live without.

Conclusion

The ONLY and I repeat ONLY way to escape this taxation trap is to make your own fuel! For a modest investment you can quietly make your own fuel in your shed for a few pennies a litre. You have been warned, stay keen stay green!

Clean Green Tuk Tuk?

2008-03-25T06:52:00.000-07:00

I'm still over in Thailand looking at the positive effect that the demand for biodiesel is having on previously poor farmers out here. With the price for raw palm oil rising steadily there's a little more money to go around down here - and that's no bad thing.

I wrote a few weeks ago about the use of LPG however I was in for an even bigger shock which only hit home this week. Check out the picture below:

See that big organge canister below that Tuk Tuk? Guess what.......yup thats LPG. Every single Tuk Tuk I have seen in Thailand uses LPG as its fuel! Vehicles once notorious for noise and pollution all run on cleaner greener fuel.

The Thai government has been smart enough to keep duty on LPG ultra low to encourage its use, as a result even in a hot and busy city of 10 million people like Bangkok you don't end up drowning in smog.

Compare that to the UK where duty(tax) on LPG is being increased 0.35p ABOVE the rate of increases in petrol and diesel duty! Add to that the average $3000 dollar conversion cost and you need to be doing starship milage to reap and kind of decent ROI.

How long can we continue to call these countries "third world" when it is clearly they and not us who are driving genuinely green agendas?

UK Government Rips off Motorists Again

2008-03-12T00:59:00.000-07:00

If you ever needed a good reason to start making your own biodiesel in your back yard just take a look at what the UK government are doing to their motorists - and take heed America because you're next!

The UK government have just announced that they are going to add another 2p a litre of TAX. The chancellor says its an important part of their "green" credentials!! Edmund King threw his personal credibility on the fire by saying that "fuel price instability is largely influenced by the market."

I was outraged to read a news feed that stated: "Motorists can expect more pain after oil prices in New York reached a record high of more than 109 US dollars a barrel on Tuesday."

What utter nonesense! Hogwash! Rubbish! Utter LIES!!

I'm sat in Thailand today where the price at the pump for 98 grade fuel is 35 Baht a litre, that's 56 British pence or about $1. I checked with the local government rep here and NO the Thais don't source their oil from a magic fairy in the mountains, they buy it from the same places we all do, in dollars like everyone else.

The inconvenient TRUTH, is that 85% of the cost of fuel in the UK is TAX. It's an easy source of revenue for the government who know we can't do without it. Hiding behind the word "green" is just a pathetic insult to our intelligence.

- sorry I need to amend this with the following note: Note: in the UK, Value Added Tax (VAT), currently at 17.5%, is also charged on the price of the fuel and on the duty. At a pump price of 100p/litre (typical for unleaded as at November 2007), this would put the combined tax at 65.24p/litre, or approximately USD$4.84 per gallon. (Thus without tax, the retail price would be 34.76p per litre, making a combined tax rate of 188%.

You have been told. Buy a diesel car. Quietly make your own fuel in the shed. Stop taking the shaft from politicians (who by the way get a generous fuel allowance paid for by you the tax payer).

First GREEN Passenger Jet Takes to the Air

2008-02-02T01:45:00.000-08:00

The world's largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380, has become the first commercial plane to fly on "green" liquid fuel made from natural gas, rather than crude oil.
The super-plane, taller than five double decker buses and the width of a football pitch, took off from the UK to France using a synthetic fuel, developed using Gas to Liquid (GTL) technology.

The plane, which seats 555 passengers, left Airbus' UK headquarters in Filton, Bristol at 11.30am on Friday morning for a three-hour test flight to Toulouse.
Sjoerd Post, vice president of Shell Aviation, which developed the fuel, said that he hoped the plane would eventually run on even greener bio-fuels made from sustainable plant matter.
More News

But according to projections released by Airbus today that would be by 2020 at the earliest.
Mr Post said: "After more than 30 years of development and a decade of operations, we are now building, together with Qatar Petroleum, the world scale Pearl GTL plant in Qatar.
"In our drive for cleaner fuels, GTL technology can help reduce local emissions and encourage sustainable mobility."

Airbus president and CEO Tom Enders said: "Our alternative fuels roadmap requires innovation, diversity of ideas and options that needs to be explored."This takes bold cross-industry and cross-border collaboration. That's what we are showing today with our groundbreaking first test flight with alternative fuels. It is part and parcel of Airbus' commitment to providing leadership as an eco-efficient enterprise."

Sebastien Remy, head of Airbus's alternative fuels programme said: "The age of easy energy is over." He said GTL was better than traditional kerosene jet fuel because it did not deplete the world's oil supply, produced less emissions of local pollutants like carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons, and was virtually free of sulphur.

5 Years to Biodiesel Powered Jet Airlines

2007-10-25T14:12:00.000-07:00

I'd bet good money that we are just 5 years away from major airlines runnig their aircraft on clean, green, renewable, biodiesel.

Why? Well aviation history was made earlier this week in the high desert at the Reno-Stead Airport when an L-29 military aircraft piloted by Carol Sugars and Douglas Rodante succeeded in completing the world’s first jet flight powered solely by 100% biodiesel fuel. The Czechoslovakian-made aircraft is rated to fly on a variety of fuels including heating oil, making it the preferred platform for testing biodiesel in jet engines.

The experimental test flights were conducted starting with a blend of jet fuel and biodiesel. The engine data was measured and the performance was evaluated and found acceptable for continued use, eventually resulting in the landmark flight using 100% renewable biodiesel fuel. According to Chief Pilot Carol Sugars who wrote and conducted the test program, “As we gradually increased the amount of biodiesel in the fuel blend, the data confirmed that the aircraft continued to perform well, giving me the confidence to transition to 100% biodiesel.” Flight tests were conducted up to an altitude of 17,000 feet showing no significant difference in performance compared to conventional jet fuel.

“This test program between Green Flight International and Biodiesel Solutions was a unique and exciting opportunity to show what can be done in renewable fuels.” said Rudi Wiedemann, president of Biodiesel Solutions. “The very idea of using 100% biodiesel to fly a jet aircraft makes a compelling statement about the possibilities for the future of renewable energy and a healthier planet.”

Out of concern for our global environment, Green Flight International was conceived by Douglas Rodante in April 2006 to serve as a platform for future development in the use of environmentally-friendly fuels in aviation and elsewhere. “It is imperative that the global community take immediate steps to reduce our carbon footprint, because we can no longer afford to wait while our environment continues to degrade.” said Rodante. “By implementing even a small amount of bio-degradable fuel in our transportation system we can significantly reduce the CO2 (greenhouse gasses) and NOx (the precursor to smog) that contribute to global warming.”

In the near future Green Flight International expects to announce plans for another record-breaking aviation event. They invite aviation and biofuel enthusiasts to inquire about how they might be able to participate in this exciting venture. For more information contact Doug Rodante at (407) 880-2501 or doug@greenflightinternational.com .

Brazil Embarrases USA - Makes Biodiesel Deal with Jamaica

2007-08-20T06:08:00.000-07:00

Surely I'm not the only person in the so called "First World" that is both embarrased by our own lack of progress and impressed with Brazils entrpreneurial approach to assisting its Carribean neighbour?

Jamaica is now poised to benefit from bilateral arrangements with Brazil in the area of biodiesel production, which is presenting great opportunities for farmers of the country.

The establishment of two biodiesel plants is being considered with the assistance of Brazil that has over 30 years of experience in the production of fuels.

The arrangement is in the early phase of development, but the exploration of possible crops for the production of biofuel has already begun.

The oil crops presently being grown in Brazil and identified as possible options to be used in the production of biodiesel here, include: soya bean, sunflower, castor bean, cotton seed, peanut - which is used in rotation with sugar for the production of both ethanol and biodiesel, jatropha and macaw palm.

It is not certain whether all of these will be compatible with the Jamaican climate. However, the Scientific Research Council has already done feasability analysis on one of the proposed crops - castor bean, but requires further research to determine which variety to plant.

Brazil's main oil source

The oil content of soya bean is about 20 per cent, with a yield of 3,000 kilogrammes per hectare. It is currently the main source of oil in Brazil. About 34 million tonnes are produced worldwide.

Sunflower's oil content is about 44 per cent of yield, which reaches 1,500 kg per hectare. It can be used for both edible oil and feedstock meal. Production worldwide is about 10 million tonnes.

A it relates to Castor beans, the oil content is 48 per cent. It yields 2,000 kg per hectare. The plant is suitable for growth on marginal lands and under extreme weather conditions.

Jatropha's oil content is 38 per cent with a yield of 4,000kg per hactre and produces inedible oil. Peanut has oil content of 54 per cent and is an attractive market. It produces both edible oil and can be use as meal, with mechanical harvesting possible.

Palm has oil content of 22 per cent with yield of 4,200, the highest of all commercial oil crops. It is however limited to rainy regions with world production of 36 million tonnes.

The production of biodiesel provides the twin goals of reducing petroleum import and supporting the country's agricultural sector.

But production of the biofuel will take an integrated approach, incorporating both the agriculture and fuel industry. The process will also involve small-scale farmers as an integral partner in the process.

Five key concepts

The production of biodiesel includes five key concepts: verticality, demand, competition, coordination and leverage. "These concepts are key to the production process," said Professor Aziz da Silva Jr., who was speaking at a two-day seminar on biofuels organised by the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica and the Brazilian Embassy at the Pegasus hotel on August 9.

It is anticipated that the demand for biodiesel will increase over the next few years, as it can be used both as an end product and for input in other industries, such as refineries.

Some 500 billion cubic metres of biofuels are produced annually and are presently sold at US$600 per tonne.

A software - biosoft has been developed to conduct sensitivity, and scenario analysis to arrive at the most appropriate production levels using both social and economic indicators.

Brazil's diesel consumption is estimated at 40 billion liters (10.6 billion gallons) per year, with imports accounting for just eight to 10 per cent of consumption.

Biodiesel & Foodcrops

2007-08-14T07:22:00.000-07:00

I note a great deal of speculation in this weeks press regarding the impact of growing or intensively farming biodiesel fuel crops on food production. This is a worthy concern however what I read is a lot of ill informed knee-jerk reaction rather than reasoned debate, so it’s worthy of further comment.

Granted, intensive farming of crops for bio-ethanol is at present a growing problem – especially in the third world although the impact on corn prices in the USA has led to a strong reaction in the press. Oil crops for biodiesel however have had very little impact as these crops are already grown for oil. We are only diverting some of this oil from being processed into cooking oil to being processed into biodiesel.

However the big problem is (was and always shall be) politics – or rather the politics of global economics. To put it simply the USA and western European governments have for years systematically undermined the economies of the third world while paying lip service to charitable aid works. Before you get hysterical you might want to do your own research on the debts levied and interest charged to third world countries compared to the amount of aid pumped in – and yes I agree that local corruption doesn’t help this situation, however stealing 50% of next to nothing is irrelevant when your country is being milked for 50% of its GDP.

There are vast areas of land throughout Africa alone which while unsuitable for food production will grow oil bearing crops suitable for biodiesel production. Rather than diverting food crops to make ethanol the USA & Europe could (read “should”) work to help African nations establish these crops. So why don’t they?

The demand for biofuels is growing so dramatically that this approach would quickly lead to Africa (and the far east) quickly becoming the major provider of vegetable oils for fuel. Neither America nor Europe can compete with the sheer quantity of land that is available in these nations which currently is not and cannot be used for food production.

Within a few short years these same nations currently financially shackled to the richer nations would be able to “buy their freedom” paying off their debts and establishing economies based on biofuel production. These nations would then no longer need to produce western food crops for export – which they currently do only in order to service their debts - and switch back to growing indigenous food crops, reducing starvation and the need for aid.

First world countries would then lose major sources of cheap food production which they cannot easily replace, especially in Europe where many countries including the UK no longer have enough arable land to produce enough food to feed their populations. Third world countries able to produce oil crops could choose when and if to grow western food crops and set their own prices without fear of financial pressure from creditors.

However by giving over domestic agricultural land to make crops for ethanol production we are creating the same pressure on food prices. We need to get past this traditional economic power struggle and start acting with a global view only then can all parties prosper.

New Cheap Way to Purify your Biodiesel

2007-08-06T01:26:00.000-07:00

A group of Chemists from the University of Leicester have developed a way of purifying biodiesel made from vegetable oils, which is cheap, simple and low in toxicity.

The team, led by Professor Andrew Abbott is able to remove glycerol, the main by-product of vegetable oil-based biodiesel, using ionic liquids made in part by vitamin B4 (choline chloride).

If left in biodiesel, glycerol (a syrupy sugar alcohol) would damage engines but this technique simply washes it out of the fuel. The ionic liquid developed by Professor Abbott uses a complex of choline chloride with glycerol to extract more glycerol out of the biodiesel.

The Leicester process is greener than traditional processes and effectively provides a sustainable methodology for the purification of biodiesel without the production of significant waste.

Professor Abbott commented: “We hope that further research will optimise the ionic liquid recycling and recovery of the glycerol. We are hoping to collaborate with a biodiesel producer to test this technology further.”

This process offers tremendous potential, if it becomes a commercial product it will be a very low cost low toxicity option to the current "dry wash" solutions.

Africa Confirms Making Biodiesel Beats Making Ethanol

2007-07-29T03:45:00.000-07:00

From Harare 25th July 2007

Zimbabwe's farmers have been moving towards creating an oil field in the country by planting jatropha, a feed stock for biodiesel.

The time is fast approaching when substantial harvests of seed will be available.

This seed needs processing, first to extract the vegetable oil, which is not fit for humans, and then esterifying the oil to produce a fuel that will burn well in diesel engines.

The technology already exists for both processes.

Several countries in Europe have biodiesel plants in operation for environmental reasons.

Biodiesel is useful as a way of absorbing surpluses of rape seed oil, and when burned does not add to the greenhouse gas load.

The carbon dioxide from the biodiesel of one harvest is absorbed by the plants growing the next harvest.

However, refineries and conversion plants are not cheap.

Setting up the industry is going to absorb a lot of resources, although the result will be of immense benefit to Zimbabwe.

So Vice President Joice Mujuru's call for a partnership between the State and the private sector is most welcome.

The State has made most of the running so far, but there is obviously plenty of room for private investment in this exciting new sector.

We now all know jatropha is a viable plant over most of Zimbabwe, including the semi-arid areas.

We all know that every drop of biodiesel that goes into our fuel pool will release foreign currency for other desperately needed purposes.

And we know from other industries that it is quite easy for private investors in agri-industries, where there is also State involvement, to make reasonable profits.

So biodiesel is one of the new industries that can make a huge difference to tens of thousands of Zimbabweans, from the farmers who grow the trees, through the industries that process the seed, to the whole business sector that will see its perennial shortage of foreign currency significantly alleviated.

As such, we hope that the partnership outlined by Cde Mujuru will be taken seriously by the private business sector and especially the oil and agri-industrial sectors, both of whom have expertise and access to expertise that can do so much to make the new industry a success.

It is theoretically possible for Zimbabwe to become self-sufficient in diesel, although that stage is a long way off.

But every percent of the diesel demand that can be met by local raw materials will create a noticeable improvement in Zimbabwe's ability to grow.

At the same time, the growth of an alcohol industry, to supplement petrol, should not be ignored.

Relevant Links

Southern Africa
Economy, Business and Finance
Energy
Sustainable Development
Zimbabwe

While petrol cannot be replaced by pure ethanol, in contrast to diesel where that fuel can be 100 percent replaced by biodiesel so long as temperatures are above -10 degrees Celsius, it is possible to dilute petrol 20 percent with ethanol at our altitude without having to modify engines.

The switch from fossil liquid fuels to biofuels will impact on the petroleum industry in Zimbabwe. If they wish to retain market shares and grow, they will need to be involved in the biofuel industry.

We believe that the best time to become involved is on the ground floor, that is now, and we hope that this industry in particular will welcome the call by the Vice President and will take the Government at its word and start playing the role desired.

Making Biodiesel - For Aeroplanes!?

2007-06-24T02:32:00.000-07:00

If you're reading this then you are probably making biodiesel at home or at the very least intrested in making and using biodiesel. One area that up until now has seemed largely ignored by the comercial biodiesel producers is aviation. Now the press and the government is starting to show an intrest in how much pollution aircraft cause and contribute to global warming - the dreaded words "carbon footprint" have been heard.

So I did some digging around on the subject and came up with some very interetsing developments at Perdue University:

As a professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Purdue University, Bernie Tao has worked on several experimental projects that challenge biomass parameters.

Over the years, Tao and his students have explored changes in plant microbial behavior to create useful products that people can use. One example is biodegradable plastics made with animal fat. The U.S. government has also asked Tao to look at vegetable oils and soybeans to create renewable products that would replace petroleum, a limited resource. For him, the projects aren't about repeating what scientific advances have already been made, such as renewable fuel, but discovering new products that perhaps no one had thought of before.

"We didn't have any use in making biodiesel fuel because it's pretty simple," Tao said. "But people would approach us and ask, 'What else can you do with this?' So we began to look at what other things you can make with it."

As Tao and his students have proven, the possibilities seem endless.

Getting the most out of biodiesel
The highest value petroleum product in the energy sector is aviation fuel, according to Tao. It differs from ground transportation fuel, and the main challenge is its cold temperature behavior. A biodiesel-fueled car has no problem running in weather 5 or 10 degrees below zero. However, biodiesel in airplane engines would easily crystallize with temperatures in the atmosphere between 40 and 58 degrees below zero. To obtain a more ideal aviation fuel, Tao and his students created an efficient fractionation method for biodiesel, extracting the materials that would quickly freeze in the fuel. Tao's improved biodiesel is being tested in commercial airline engines at Purdue University Airport, where Tao's students measure thrust, emissions and power of various biodiesel blends.

Biodiesel - The King of Beers?

2007-06-12T09:01:00.000-07:00

Or I could have said "biodiesel - refreshes the parts that other beers cannot reach" for the benefit of readers in Europe!

A great story coming out of the UK from one of their largest brewers with over 2000 bar / restaurants accross the country.

The brewer is Weatherspoons and they are the first retailer in the UK to reccyle their own cooking oil into biodiesel to power their delivery vehicles.

To undertake the project Weatherspoon has partnered with DHL Excel Supply Chain and biodiesel energy company Argent.

Commercial Director Paul Harbottle said, "..it is important that we take steps to reduce our carbon footprint. We are pleased to have introduced the first vehicle powered on biodiesel, and our aim is to convert more of the vehicles to biodiesel in the near future."

Great work Weatherspoons - lets hope that more companies accross the globe pick this up and adopt the strategy, the impact on carbon footprints, pollution and fossil fuel dependancy will be huge.

Make Biodiesel – Beat the Great Petrol Rip-Off.

2007-06-06T03:04:00.000-07:00

If you needed any more convincing when it comes to whether or not you should start making biodiesel at home then here it is – the latest prices that people are paying around the world for petrol:

United Kingdom £3.76/gallon
Norway £3.41/gallon
Italy £3.10/gallon
Japan £2.70/gallon
Brazil £2.20/gallon
Australia £1.70/gallon
USA £1.35/gallon
Mexico £1.30/gallon
Saudi 49p/gallon!
Kuwait 40p/gallon!
Venezuela 8p/gallon !

And for those of you in the first 7 countries, guess what ? Most of what you are paying is tax to the government!

So don’t just sit there use one of the links of this blog and start making your own fuel TODAY. You will never look back and your bank balance will remind you of the wisdom of your actions.

N.B. It is unlikely in the extreme that these prices will do anything other than continue to go up…………..

Biodiesel or Death?

2007-06-04T02:45:00.000-07:00

I just read an article by Chuck Cole, the "Biodiesel Doctor" in Farm and Ranch News which raised my blood-pressure and it should raise yours too.

I don't agree with Chucks view, I think to be frank he misses some crucial facts, however I do agree that the situation means that we should all be making biodiesel and we should be completely independant from the middle east.

Here's Chucks main pitch: " Because the worldwide demand for oil is increasing and the supply is decreasing, it is clear that the long-term price of oil will continue to rise. Considering that the United States is the largest oil consumer in the world, this continuing price escalation should cause us serious concern. But that’s not the scariest part. Iraq and Saudi Arabia combined are the largest single geographical source of oil in the world. We all know that Iraq is extremely unstable. If we pull our troops out, who knows what could happen to this supply of oil. What most people don’t know is that Saudi Arabia is likely to become extremely unstable also.

Saudi Arabia is a ticking time bomb. In the 1980s, Saudi was a very rich country with $120 billion in cash reserves. Today, the reserves are les than $20 billion. The middle class of the country has literally been wiped out financially supporting the royal family. In 1981, the average Saudi citizen had an income of over $28,000 per year. By 2001, that income was down to $6,800 and is still decreasing today.

The oil income is going to support a huge royal family. The average Saudi prince fathers from 40 to 70 children during his lifetime. Thus, the royal family is growing at an unbelievable rate at the expense of the average citizen. Is it any wonder that al-Qaeda is becoming popular with Saudi’s disintegrating middle class? Sooner or later, the house of Saudi will fall. What then?

Who knows, but we can easily imagine a very, very serious interruption in the supply of oil. What if the downfall of Saudi Arabia also takes out Iraq? Or the fall of Iraq takes out Saudi Arabia?"

What you need to bear in mind is the following:
- in the last 10 years the population of Saudi has doubled, 20% of that is made up of foreign nationals so given that they don't levy taxes of course the average salary has declined. However with no taxes and a fairly low cost of living $6800 goes a very long way.
- that $20 billion is cash, lets not forget that the USA and the UK economies are massively in debt by comparison
- Saudi is the heart of the Islamic faith which is part of what gives it its religious stability and makes it potentially volatile.

I don't think any of these things that get Chcuk so excited are really the problem, or at least the whole problem.

In the seventies the USA persuaded the arab states lead by the Saudis to agree to only sell crude in US dollars. To sweeten the deal the US government promised to defend the Saudi families right to rule with military force if required. Last year Iran bodly stated its intention to break from this and sell its oil in Euros as many of its clients are European and the Euro is increasingly strong against the falling dollar. It should suprose no-one reading this that US military threats aimed at Iran have little to do in reality with their nuclear power program.

So two stark and frightening scenarios potentially extend from this: (1) Iran could lead a consortium of arab states to move away from the US Dollar standard and sell in Euros. If this happens the USA will no longer be able to manage economic inflation because the worldwide demand for dollars will fall and they sdimpy won't be able to mop them up - the effect will be to send the dollar in a further downward spiral and the ceonomic consequences will be catastrophic.

(2) Chuck may be right, perhaps there is socio-political instability in Saudi Arabia, perhaps Iraq or the threats to another Muslim nation (Iran) will push fundamentalists over the edge and cause a revolt.

What frightens me - and it should frighten you - is that the answer in both cases is war. Either an invasion of Iran to prevent them using the Euro, neatly wrapped up in a "Nuclear Weapons", WMD, spin story. Or a counter insurgency operation in Saudi to defend the royal family as promised.

In either case more American and UK soldiers will die and their citizens and economies will have to carry a heavy tax burden long into the future.

If we make biodiesel, if we make ourselves fuel independant then this kind of action is both unneccessary and indefensible. My suggestion? Make biodiesel at home, campaign for more biofuels, bombard your goverment representatives with requests to support biomass fuels.

Only when we are producing our own bio-fuels will be free of this threat, and able to build a stable economic future for ourselves and our children.

Promote Biodiesel & Kill the Drug Trade?

2007-04-25T02:04:00.000-07:00

I was astonished to learn recently from roving reporter Michael Kanellos that Columbian farmers are starting to turn Coca fields over to growing crops for green fuels.

It's an amazing thought that without massive expense and bloodshed we could actually start to turn the tide in the South American drug trade by giving farmers there a lucrative alternative to growing drug crops.

There's the added advantage that it would also reduce the pressure at home to give over good arable land used for growing food for fuel crop production which , as we have already seen this year is pushing the price of corn, maize and flour steadily up in price - a trend that simply is not supportable in the long term.

One of the benefits of certain fuel oil crops, used for making biodiesel, like Jatropa for example is that it will produce a good yeild but will grow on absolutely marginal soil unsuited to food production - you know the kind of barren mountainside used to grow Coca and Marijuana, and in Afghanistan opium poppies used to make herion.

The main reason farmers turn to these crops is that it simply pays better than growing anything else. Now we have an opportunity through promoting the manufacture and use of biodiesel to offer them an attractive alternative which benefits us both.

You can support this move - Use biodiesel! Start making biodiesel at home and using biodiesel fuel in your car, generator or home heating system. The more your actions increase the demand for biodiesel fuel the more seed oil crops will need to be grown globally.

Looking to the future and notwithstanding the environmental, cost and freedom benefits of biodiesel I dare to hope that another collateral benefit with be a reduction in the growing of drug crops which ultimately fund terrorism and blight the lives of so many people.

Biodiesel from liposuctioned human ass-fat powers race boat

2007-03-02T02:59:00.000-08:00

Hey, you may have seen this story before but its just so funny that it's worth posting here!

Here's some video from a Current TV segment about a biodiesel boat race to circumnavigate the globe. The boat featured in the video runs on a mixture of fuel from various sources -- 4 gallons of the stuff was produced from liposuctioned butt blubber (a hundred grams of that came from the captain's own backside). Welp, there's a renewable fuel source America has plenty of.

Biodiesel Beats Ethanol Every Time

2007-02-28T00:22:00.000-08:00

It seems like forever that I have been banging the table and saying that ethanol is not the answer to the fossil fuel or climate chnage crisis. I'm not alone in this and often others don't say it inplicitly but instead clearly point a finger in the same direction. I thought I would share with you an article written by one of my associates By Nick Louth who writes for MSN and who in this article entitled "Why biofuels won't help climate change" points us in the direction of biodiesel once more.

What Nick doesn't implicitly state but we know is that not only does biodiesel have all the same climate benefits as ethanol when burnt, it can be grown on marginal land, from crops that grow quickly with little energy. Crucially though the average person can make biodiesel at home either from fresh or used oil making it a far superior and sustainable choice. Enjoy.

For all the excitement over the issue, biofuels are not going to be much help in reducing carbon emissions, or in slowing the consumption of oil reserves.
In fact, the entire biofuel industry is already in deep trouble because of that old adversary: economics.

Brazilian buses, the perfect scenario
The excitement of biofuels is in theory understandable. A bus in Brazil, running on ethanol derived from locally-grown sugar cane, produces 90% less carbon dioxide than a petrol-powered bus. The reason for that is the carbon absorbed from the atmosphere by the growing cane offsets almost all the carbon returned to the atmosphere by burning the ethanol to power the bus.

Better still, the bus would produce much less particle and sulphur dioxide pollution, even if running on a mix of petrol and ethanol. By using local crops a whole series of important developmental boxes can be ticked: rural incomes boosted, technology transferred to less developed countries, a useful new export for poor agrarian countries and so on. Landlocked African countries, using the Brazilian experience, could cut their reliance on pricey foreign fuel by growing sugar cane for ethanol.

Holy grail scenario
This is the holy grail of biofuel. Growing fuels to substitute for increasingly scarce oil supplies, and cutting reliance on energy from unstable regions like the Middle East.
We know it works, because until fuel prices crashed in the 1990s and made it uneconomic, Brazil was a huge producer of ethanol for domestic use.

So much for theory. The carbon gain isn’t automatic. It hinges on growing crops to make the fuel that would not otherwise be grown. If the crops are merely diverted from other uses then there is no new crop growth, and no offset to the carbon produced by the fuel burning.

Don’t use the rainforest
However, if new acreage of crops is grown this is most likely to be provided by the destruction of existing forest. “If even 5% of biofuels are sourced from wiping out existing ancient forests, you’ve lost all your carbon gain,” said Doug Parr, chief UK scientist at Greenpeace.
It is far from certain that there is fallow, non-forested but productive land available on the scale required to make the carbon equation of biofuels stand up.

Yet there is no doubting the official enthusiasm for biofuel. The European Union earlier this month set a target that by 2020, 10% of all petrol and diesel used in vehicles should come from biofuels. From farmers to financiers, £1 billion a year has been raised to plough into biofuel production.

Biofuels: one clean drop in an oily bucketful
The International Energy Agency (IEA) says that demand for crops for biofuels will soar from 41.5 million tones of oil equivalent in 2010 to 92.4 million by 2030. With government subsidies it may climb faster to 146.7 millio tonnes by 2030, the IEA predicts.

Yet that is still a drop in a bucket compared to the 3,809 million tonnes of oil consumed annually worldwide. Oil consumption is set to grow every year by 3.2-3.6%, according to the IEA. A single year’s growth would thus eat up the entire 2030 cumulative biofuel target. Plainly, we are hardly going to see much difference in fuel demand or in reliance on the Middle East because of these alternative fuels.

Besides, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reckons it would take 70% of Europe’s farmland devoted to biofuel crops to provide just 10% of road transport fuel. “Biofuels are not any kind of answer to global warming,” Parr concludes.

Corn to ethanol: Just a waste of energy?
Biofuel cultivation make most sense in the tropics where intense sunshine promotes rapid crop growth and carbon uptake, where labour is cheapest and where expensive (and oil-derived) fertilizers are not required. In temperate latitudes, though, the energy balance is reversed in crops like maize (corn), wheat and rapeseed.

Temperate ethanol production actually wastes energy. David Pimentel, Professor of Ecology and Agriculture at Cornell University in New York showed that it took 6,597 kilocalories of non-renewable energy to produce a litre of ethanol from US-grown corn. This ethanol contains only 5,130 kilocalories of energy per litre, essentially getting 22% less out than you put in.
Yet it is in just those traditional farming areas of Europe and North America where the enthusiasm, the spending and the government subsidies have been greatest. It is also there where protectionism has been most evident. The US currently levies a 54 cents a gallon tariff on imports of Brazilian ethanol, the one biofuel which actually is efficient.

Not about saving the world, more about farm subsidies
It is hard not to come to the conclusion that the greatest beneficiary of biofuel will not be the world’s energy users, but the rich world’s grain farmers. With £306 billion annually spent subsidising global agriculture, it is no surprise that farmers are standing in line to receive yet more handouts to support the markets for what they grow. In 2006, US farmers received over $5 billion (£2.6 billion) in subsidies to grow biofuel.

In Europe the crops grown for electricity generation biofuels, such as elephant grass and short-rotation willow coppice, are on fresh land. This is a carbon gain, but at some subsidy cost. The land most often used is “set-aside”: European farmers are paid once not to farm under EU rules, and then paid a second time to farm, so long as they grow only non-food crops. It’s a classic EU subsidy tangle that we taxpayers are funding.

Now economics weighs in
However, the soaring cost of the crops needed to produce biofuels is already threatening to make them uneconomic and ensure that they could not survive without subsidies. Prices of maize, wheat, palm oil, rapeseed (known as canola in the US) and soy oil futures are all soaring, making the price of biofuels much more expensive than the fuels they are intended to displace in our fuel tanks.

Maize prices (corn in the US) have reached a 10-year high of $4.31 a bushel in recent days, double the level of a year ago, while crude oil prices, having reached $76 a barrel in August are now back at levels of a year ago, $60. The rising cost of grain has been driven by an awful harvest of wheat this year in Australia, normally one of the world’s largest producers, plus increasing demand for biofuels. India, the world’s second largest wheat producer, has banned exports and released 365,000 tonnes from its strategic reserve to curb price rises.

Now beer drinkers need to worry
And it isn’t just bread eaters who need to be concerned. Beer drinkers too are likely to face price increases. The price of barley, an important constituent in beer production, has soared 86% in the last year because farmers are switching away from the crop to grow biofuel crops like rapeseed instead. Lager-maker Heineken has already warned that this is causing problems. Once again, note what is happening: the acreage devoted to biofuels is coming from switching crops, not growing anything new. There is no carbon gain.

Technology and mix problems
Biofuels face major technical and market problems too. Spanish engineering group Abengoa has threatened to suspend output at its largest bioethanol plant, which uses wheat to make a biofuel for petrol. But in Spain most drivers use diesel and ethanol can only be blended with petrol. The 200,000 tonne-per-year Dunkirk biofuel refinery planned by Neste of Finland and Total of France is jeopardised by technical problems because of the higher-than-expected temperatures required to turn vegetable oils into hydrocarbons.

Taxation: nein!
In Germany, demand for biodiesel has fallen 30% this year after the Federal government put a nine euro cent tax on each litre, with plans to escalate this to the 45 cent level on existing diesel by 2012. Achim Steiner, head of the UN Environment Programme said in a recent article: “The market acceptance of biofuels will accelerate if the costs of climate change and pollution are captured in the price of energy, an omission that unfairly makes conventional fuels look more financially attractive than they really are.” He’s right that conventional fuels don’t capture their climate change and pollution cost, but wrong to believe that biofuels always do.

Biofuels do not provide a pure carbon offset unless the crops would not otherwise be grown, their production is often highly energy intensive, and without a big rise in the price of oil they will continue to cost more to produce than the fuel they are supposed to replace.

A role to play, but lost in politics
Biofuels could have a role to play if they are grown only in the tropics, but the western world’s farmers do not want to lose out on the subsidies. And to keep biofuels competitive will cost a lot more in taxpayer subsidies. Are we really prepared to do this when they aren’t going to help us win the war on climate change?

In the end, if we are to tackle climate change we need to take a more fundamental look at the amount we drive and fly, how we heat our homes and the food and consumer goods we buy.
It’s never going to be fixed by merely changing the fuel we put in the tank.

Diesel Autos Finally Come of Age in the USA – Now you Must switch to Biodiesel.

2007-02-19T02:27:00.000-08:00

On the 24th of January President Bush used his State of the Union speech to ask Americans to “expand the use of clean diesel vehicles” as part of his new energy plan to cut US domestic gasoline consumption by 20 percent over the next 10 years. Immediately auto manufacturers responded by unveiling a whole new generation of ultra-clean, brand new diesel passenger vehicles that not only meet the strictest emission standards ever set in the USA but also achieve 20-40 percent better fuel efficiency than comparable gasoline based models.

What does this mean for you? Simple, you will now have a growing range of autos to choose from that will have quiet , clean diesel powerplants – every single one of which will run on home produced biodiesel! If thought of running some old oily chugger has been putting you off then you no longer have an excuse.
Manufacturers, including Dodge, General Motors, Ford, BMW Group, Mercedes, Jeep, Audi, Volkswagen, Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi are planning to introduce “50 state” diesels in the next two years, including everything from compact cars to luxury sedans, SUVs and pick-up trucks.

DaimlerChrysler AG Chairman Dieter Zetsche announced that its new Dodge Ram and other vehicles will meet strict new U.S. diesel emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles that take effect in 2010 nearly three years ahead of time. The medium-duty Dodge Ram pick-ups, featuring a 6.7-liter Cummins turbodiesel powertrain, will be on sale soon in all 50 states. Chrysler also plans to introduce a diesel version of its Jeep Grand Cherokee early this year.

Also Volkswagen AG unveiled plans for its new diesel 2008 Jetta, which will help meet the new stringent EPA “Tier II Bin 5” emission requirements. The clean diesel Jetta meets these standards without the use of urea-based selected catalytic reduction technology (SCR). It is expected to achieve 40 MPG in the city and 60 MPG on the highway. In November, DaimlerChrysler announced it was joining forces with Volkswagen and its Audi unit to market clean-diesel Bluetec technology.

These vehicles set the stage for a coming wave of new, 50-state compliant diesel consumer vehicles slated to hit showroom floors and dealer lots nationwide for the 2008, 2009 and 2010 model years, including the Chevrolet Express Cargo Van, the Chevrolet Silverado HD Pickup, the Ford E-Series Cargo Van, the Ford F-Series Super Duty, the GMC Savana Cargo Van, the GMC Sierra Pickup, Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec, the Mercedes-Benz GL 320 CDI (Mid-size SUV), the Mercedes-Benz ML 320 CDI (Large SUV), the Mercedes-Benz R320 CDI (Touring Roadster Crossover), and the Volkswagen Touareg TDI.

Other prospective new clean diesels being seriously considered for introduction in the U.S. market include the Volkswagen Tiguan small SUV, the Honda Accord diesel, the Audi Q7 SUV, the Nissan Sentra, and the BMW 535d sedan and X5 Sports Activity Vehicle.

A car is certified by the EPA as “50-state compliant” when it meets “Tier II Bin 5” standards for emissions. Manufacturers are fiercely competing to bring the new technologically advanced passenger vehicle diesels into the U.S. market to help promote clean air, reduce carbon emissions and cut gasoline use. Emission regulations in California, Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, Maine and Rhode Island prohibited the sale of passenger car diesels in 2006, but new clean diesels will meet those regulations.

J.D. Power & Associates predicts that the diesel market in the United States could increase nearly 300 percent by 2015. And R.L. Polk & Associates shows that registration of diesel passenger vehicles jumped 80 percent from 2000-2005. In the light-duty market, diesel registrations showed 95 percent growth from 2000-2005, with 31 percent growth coming in 2005 alone.

Because of its low-end torque, unrivalled performance and towing power, diesel has long been a mainstay of the medium-duty pickup market. Further R.L. Polk data show that sales of diesel-powered medium-duty trucks increased 72 percent from 2000-2005.

Modern diesels are nothing like your fathers diesel cars; they are smooth driving, fast, have great acceleration and deliver 20% - 40% better fuel economy. Better than that you can make your own biodiesel fuel at home and use it in these vehicals without any modifications. There has never been a better time for you to make the move to biodiesel in the USA.

Biodiesel - Wash n Dry Your Fuel the Easy Way

2007-01-04T06:35:00.000-08:00

sponsored by www.biodiesel-secrets-revealed.com

By now you know all too well that to get the best results and to avoid any possibility of reducing the efficiency of your fuel you need to wash your raw biodiesel.

Now this can be done any number of ways from a fancy mist washing system, to “hand washing” to using an aquarium airstone to achieve the desired result. All the while ever conscious of the dangers that your neo fuel could turn into soap at any second.

All of these processes however result in some water being left in your biodiesel fuel which again raises the spectre or reduced performance and possible long term corrosion issues inside your fuel delivery system.

As a result many gurus in the field of biodiesel production maintain that you should “dry” your fuel for a perfect end product – and I agree. However it is yet another step to perform and many people are tempted to miss this step altogether, many don’t even wash their fuel let alone dry it!

Fortunately there is another way – a much, much easier way to get clean, dry fuel (dry-clean?) The magic ingredient you need is Magnasol.

Magnesol, is probably best described as an “adsorbent filter aid” and it ensures the quality of your biodiesel by removing any contaminants within methyl esters and that includes water. In fact Magnasol could prove to be the cure all for cleaning and clarifying your fuel to produce a consistently high quality, clean biodiesel fuel at home.

How it Works
Magnasol increases “the oxidative stability of biodiesel” and you can use it either in conjunction with, or more importantly as a replacement for your water-wash treatment at the end of your biodiesel production process.

After the reaction with methoxide that causes the glycerin separation process, your raw biodsiesel contains contaminants that could certainly be detrimental to the quality of your fuel and must be removed before you use it – for best and problem free results. Normally you would do this by water-washing the biodiesel. However, with Magnesol, the water-wash step can be removed, and so can the “liquid separation” and “drying” of your biodiesel.

It can also replace other methods of removing color from biodiesel, such as bleaching if you bother to do such a thing.Magnesol has a high affinity for methanol and water, so it will leach every last bit of these from your fuel.

Purification with Magnesol can also increase the stability of biodiesel which is increasingly important, as home and industrial manufacturers move towards using or providing biodiesel fuel ever more widely.

How to Use Magnasol
In a standard biodiesel production process, you mix Magnesol (supplied as a fine white powder) with your reacted but unwashed biodiesel in your reaction tank. Mix it for around 5 or 10 minutes after glycerin separation and after any methanol removal.

Magic Magnasol (magnesium silicate) has what is called a “strong affinity for polar compounds” which means that it naturally bonds to polar compounds like excess methanol, free glycerin, mono and di-glycerides, metal contaminants, free fatty acids and soap. These materials can then removed from the process through simple filtration filtration e.g. pump your finished fuel through a cloth or fuel filter.

N.B. Glycerin is itself a polar molecule, and as such is susceptible to the adsorptive abilities of Magnasol. That’s why Magnesol is added to the process after the glycerin separation has taken place.

When using Magnesol, you are left with a potentially useful “filter cake” rather than potentially dirty waste to dispose of. This filter cake could potentially be used as a clean animal feed supplement, a form of biomass fuel, fertilizer or compost.

For more details see the BECON study in the Resources section at www.ultimate-biodiesel-guide.com

Evil Ethanol, Biodiesel & Betamax Videos

2006-11-26T12:08:00.000-08:00

Everywhere I read, I read that ethanol is the next fuel to save us from a fossil fuel dependant, over heated, polluted future.

This emphasis seems to be the case particularly in the USA. That’s understandable when you consider that the USA is the one great industrial nation that until recently never really embraced diesel engines like Europe. So you can understand their infatuation with ethanol – but that does not make it the right or the only choice.

In September Renault demonstrated its new hydrogen fuel cell powered 207 cabriolet, 28 bhp electric motor, 81 mph and an operating range of 218 miles, producing nothing but water as its sole emission. This month it was BMW with their new hydrogen power 7 series. They already have 3 fuel stations up and running in Germany with more planed. In October another manufacturer announced their hybrid system which converts braking energy not into electricity, but into compressed gas which is then used to help acceleration.

So clearly there are other options - however all of this is rather misses the point. None of these technologies help the power generation industry, nor do they meet the needs of the merchant navy, road hauliers or railway companies, all of whom, at least outside the USA, run on diesel.

Ethanol is a fuel which is complicated to make and thus easy to regulate, it continues to be cost effective only because of the massive government subsidies that it receives, it singularly fails to encourage the use of more fuel efficient diesel engines which simply delays the inevitable.

Which brings us neatly to the next point. The majority of ethanol in the USA is produced from corn – a food crop, a crop which requires good soil if it is to be grown in quantity. Do we face a future where we choose between fuel and food?

As all owners of a betmax video machine can testify, it is not always the best product that wins through. In the 80’s Sony’s betmax technology finally lost out to VHS, not because VHS was better but because it was better supported. With luminaries such as Bill Gates investing upwards of $84 million in ethanol production and distribution it is almost bound to be a success, if not an exclusive one.

In the US led fossil fuel replacement debate ethanol is clearly gaining ground steadily. However the world at large needs a diesel replacement, and the USA will sooner or later have to grasp the concept of fuel economy.

The only contender in this space is biodiesel, a clean fuel that can been made from crops like Jatropha, grown on the most marginal ground not suitable for food crops, and easily manufactured in plants small enough to fit into most peoples back yards.

What is certain is that whichever way this debate goes there is sure to be a rise in demand for a good, dependable supply of hardy, high yield crops whether for food or fuel production. Undoubtedly good news for Monsanto with their GM seeds.

Make Biodiesel At Home or Go Broke

2006-10-22T13:27:00.000-07:00

Make Biodiesel At Home

As the world’s reserve of fossil fuels becomes fast depleted, the need for reliable alternative fuel sources becomes more and more acute. One alternative fuel that is fast gaining recognition is biodiesel fuel. Like everything new and alternative, this fuel source is surrounded by many myths and falsehoods designed to scare people away. Our Ultimate Biodiesel Guide is committed to providing people with the facts. We not only want to encourage alternative fuel use, we also want people to make biodiesel at home.

The cost of fuel is becoming ridiculous. Although it would be easy to simply blame greedy oil company CEOs, the truth is that the rising cost is just as much a consequence of depleted resources and high demand. Additionally governments see fuel tax as an easy way to raise revenue - they know we can't do without it. I spoke to a friend of mine in the UK today - did you know that 80% of the cost of a gallon of gas in the UK is tax? Trust me, this will soon be "normal" everywhere.

Every year the cost of heating homes and driving to work is getting more and more out of hand, creating real financial hardships on the less wealthy of our society. Learning to make biodiesel at home can cut fuel and power costs by up to 90% per year. This means that fuel costs rise no longer, meaning bigger spending, it means bigger savings.

Learning to make your own biodiesel not only saves on the cost of fuel, it also saves on the maintenance of your machinery. Test after test has proven that those machines adapted to run on this fuel run more effectively, have fewer mechanical breakdowns, and last longer than those still running on fossil fuels. When maintenance fees are added to fuel savings, it is amazing how much less you will spend every year on driving a car, heating a home, and powering machinery using homemade biodiesel.

It is sad, but our society is virtually held hostage by rising fuel costs. When to go on vacation, how often to drive a vehicle, and even the temperature of the house are dictated by oil company executives. CEOs in suits should not control your life -- your life should be in your own hands. Homemade biodiesel is the key to freedom and it is the key to taking control over how you live your life and power your technology.

At www.ultimate-biodiese-guide.com we want everyone to know the benefits of making their own fuel. This is why we not only provide you with a comprehensive manual, but also continually update our site as new information becomes available. Please visit our resources section for a selection of informative articles, and check back often to learn more.

This article is courtesy of www.ultimate-biodiesel-guide.com

Making Biodiesel? Turn your "Waste" into Cash!

2006-09-12T13:10:00.000-07:00

Introduction.

If you have already started making biodiesel you will know that the main by-product is glycerine. What you may not know is that you can turn this “waste” into a product you can use – or even sell to pay for your raw materials.

The product in question is soap. Most soap is glycerine based, cheap and easy to buy anywhere at a relatively low price. However “home-made” and “natural” or “homeopathic” soaps are much sought after product – and these are exactly the kinds of product that you can make at home with your left over glycerine.

Don’t believe me? Feel free to Google Home Made Soap, or search on Ebay – home made soap sells for up to $8 a bar!

There are two types of soap you can make – liquid and solid. I’ll cover liquid soap here, there’s a recipe for making solid bars in the new edition of this guide.

Making Liquid Soap from Glycerin
Liquid soap is particularly good for cleaning greasy hands or equipment and you can put it into any pump dispenser.

Step 1 – Remove any residual alcohol.

Your glycerine will contain almost 100% of the catalyst you used for you biodiesel reaction. As such, the glycerine and KOH (or lye) will have already formed soap by the time you drain it from your biodiesel reaction chamber.

There will be some unreacted alcohol left in your glycerine, which you will need to remove otherwise you will end up (at best) with a very harsh soap. To do this you need to heat your glycerine past the boiling point of the type of alcohol you used, which will cause the alcohol to evaporate off, leaving just the glycerine soap, for you to enhance into a great end product.
N.B. Make sure that you get the temperatures right; methanol will need to reach 148 degrees F (65 degrees C). Ethanol will need to reach 175 degrees F (79 degrees C). Allow the glycerine to stay heated for at least 10 minutes and then allow the glycerine to cool.

Step 2 – Enhancing your Soap

You can add essential oils and fragrances to your soap to enhance its aroma. Popular fragrances include:

Tea-tree oil
Vanilla
Oats (for exfoliation in solid soaps only)
Lavender
Peppermint
Rose

I particularly like the last three as you can grow them for free in your garden!
You will need to add about 150-200 millilitres of manufactured fragrance oil or 50 millilitres of essential oil per litre of glycerine; alternatively, you can add up to 300 grams of dried herbs/flowers. You can also enhance the color of your soap by simply adding food coloring.

Step 3 – Cooking it All Up

Take your alcohol free glycerine and heat it in a suitable container until it liquefies. Then simply pour in the fragrance oil and or the dried flowers/herbs. Stir lightly as you add the ingredients to ensure that they are evenly distributed.

Last but by no means least pour your liquid soap into a suitable container, a sturdy plastic tub or old pump soap dispenser and leave it to cool. Leave the lid off for about a week and the end result should be a fantastic, aromatic liquid soap.

Safety Tips

- Always make your biodiesel and soap in a well ventilated area.
- Always use an open container to encourage the circulation of air.
- Don’t breathe the fumes.
- Always use oven gloves and if possible goggles or glasses when handling hot liquids.

And Finally…..
If you are going to make biodiesel then why not turn this waste by-product into a useful, cash generating product? Also remember that like anything practice makes perfect, so don’t be afraid to experiment! Once you’ve made your soap you might want to consider purchasing some simple, cheap containers and labels and packaging the soap up for sale on Ebay, your own website or at your local car boot sale. Enjoy

2006-09-05T16:43:00.000-07:00

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Biodiesel V Ethanol - Making the Right Choice

2006-08-27T17:09:00.000-07:00

By: Mike Copinger of www.ultimate-biodiesel-guide.com

I’m sure that you have noticed that there has been a surge in interest in Ethanol as an alternative to regular fuel, especially in the USA. Bill Gates invested the better part of $40m in ethanol production and distribution; this month in SHELBY the town Planning Board granted site plan approval and issued a special use permit to Western New York Energy LLC on Monday, paving the way for construction of a major ethanol plant.

There seem to be ethanol plants going up all over the place. I can’t help but feel a little nostalgic – after all, when Henry Ford started out his cars were designed to run on ethanol (oil hadn’t really made it onto the scene by then) and in fact he invested considerable sums in ethanol production and distribution. It was only the bully boy tactics of the new oil barons that made petrol and petro diesel the no. 1 fuels in the market.

Nostalgic though I am, I have to also admit to being a skeptic. I mean why ethanol and not biodiesel? After all biodiesel recycles used oil that would otherwise end up in landfill into useable clean fuel. Better yet it’s simple for anyone to make biodiesel, with very basic equipment and instructions.

A recent study, done by researchers at the University of Minnesota and at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., points to the environmental benefits of biodiesel over ethanol (in this case made from corn), stating that ethanol provides 25 percent more energy a gallon than is required for its production, while soybean based biodiesel generates 93 percent more energy.
The study also identified that ethanol, in its production and consumption, reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 12 percent, compared with fossil fuels; however biodiesel, they found, reduces such emissions by 41 percent, compared with fossil fuels.

Moreover the study acknowledged that in order to produce a sufficient quantity of ethanol from crops like corn, food production would inevitably be compromised. On the other hand oil rich crops like jatropha will happily grow in marginal soil not suitable for other forms of agriculture.
So it begs the question again - why ethanol? Could it possibly be that in most parts of the civilized world you need a government license to run a still to produce any kind of alcohol?

It’s possible to make biodiesel at home with little more than a soda bottle, and some basic hardware store chemicals - but to make ethanol you need a still and thus a license, you're traceable and if unlicensed you are committing a criminal offence. Could it be that governments prefer a fuel that they can more tightly control, and tax?

As we work towards a greener, more sustainable future it's equally important that we choose the right kinds of fuels and for the right reasons.

Don't Forget to Wash (your Biodiesel, that is)

2006-08-22T14:29:00.000-07:00

Some makers of biodiesel are satisfied to let their newly produced mixture simply sit untouched for about a week to allow the bulk of the soap residues settle to the bottom before running the product through a filter and into their fuel tank. But for a cleaner biodiesel that burns better, runs better, gets better mileage, and minimizes wear and tear on your engine, you may wish to consider taking this stage of the process a step further.

There are numerous ways to wash biodiesel, the simplest being to pour water with a dash of white vinegar mixed in into a translucent container made of PVC or some other similar material, or a 5-7 gallon bucket, if washing large batches, fitted with a valve at the bottom that can be opened or closed at will. Then pour your biodiesel on top of it and gently stir, avoiding agitating the soaps you’re attempting to remove. Afterwards, let the mixture sit for 12-24 hours.
At the end of this time the oil (biodiesel fuel) and the water (cloudy with soap) will have separated, and you can decant the biodiesel out the top, and then drain the soapy water out the bottom.

You’ll want to repeat this process 1 or 2 more times, using fresh water each time (though after the 1st wash, you need not add any vinegar to the water you use for subsequent batches.) In the interest of preserving water, by the way, the remaining water from your 3rd wash could be used for the 1st wash on a subsequent batch.

If, after 3 washings, there still seems to be residual soaps remaining, they can then be removed by slowly reheating the oil, decanting out the clean biodiesel and leaving the impurities behind.
There is, however, another way to wash your biodiesel that, while taking longer to complete, uses up far less water. Brought to us by the University of Idaho, this technique, called Bubble Washing, utilizes an aerator and an air stone, both of which you can buy for under $50 collectively at your local aquarium supply shop.

If the aerator you purchase comes with a filter, remove it now before proceeding. Add into a tank or container filled halfway with biodiesel 30 milliliters of vinegar for every 100 liters of biodiesel and then fill it just about the rest of the way with plain water. Drop into the mixture the air stone that’s attached to the end of your aerator. It will immediately sink to the tank’s bottom. Once you turn the aerator on, bubbles begin to emanate from the stone, rising up through the tank, washing the fuel as it does so.

When the bubble arrives at the surface of the biodiesel, it then pops, releasing a water droplet that then drops back through the mixture, washing it a second time. Now if washing your biodiesel this way only succeeds in making it cloudier, then there’s probably too much alkali in your mixture. This can easily be reduced by adding a small amount of lemon juice or white vinegar to the water you’re washing with.

Let the bubble washing continue for 2 to 3 days. For faster results, you might choose to attach the pump (aerator) to the side of your tank or container. The vibrations assist in the separation process and help expedite its completion.

Periodically check the pH of the mixture as the process rolls along. Whether you wash your biodiesel “manually” (as in the first method outlined) or using the latter bubble washing method, you should only consider the process complete when the pH of your biodiesel reaches approximately 7-7.5 (neutral).

With thanks to: Mike Cubert for this article.
That’s when you know you’re good to go.
Biodisel is clean, renewable, cheap and popular. The best part is that it's very easy to make it at home. Visit our biodiesel making section for how to information.

2006-06-25T11:18:00.000-07:00

Biodiesel Fuel

Biodiesel fuel is becoming more and more popular, which is no wonder, the soaring gas prices and the growing environmental awareness brings society to a point where it needs to consider its energy consumption carefully. With the rising price of gasoline and the prospect of even higher prices, it’s becoming evident that most people need to start looking for an alternative fuel source.

Most of the people around never heard of biodiesel fuel. It’s a fuel that is made from vegetable oil. The vegetable oil is run through a bio diesel processor and within hours you have a batch of bio diesel fuel that you can use in your vehicle.

Bio diesel is the new energy star, the name is a general one for a variety of ester-based oxygenated fuels made from soybean oil or other vegetable oils or animal fats. It is produced by mixing oils with alcohol or petroleum diesel fuel. The organic oil is most often obtained from soybeans. Some people even try to make Bio diesel at home, but this is not something I would recommend to everyone, you should really need to know what you are doing when you try and make your own fuel.

The beautiful thing about Bio diesel is that you can run it on most cars, without any pricy motor or engine modifications, its something that saves money all around, so the advantages are clear, however you will need to learn this subject seriously before you start using or making bio diesel. If you are considering trying this process you’ll want to do a bit of research in order to be completely informed. The Internet of course has many sites devoted to biodiesel and its advantages.

You can also find companies that will sell and ship you a kit that you can begin using immediately to make the fuel. The bio diesel kit is often referred to as SVO, and is perfect for most drivers to use, these kits provide you with the tools to build a device that will do the work for you, and prepare the bio diesel before it gets to the engine. The Bio Diesel kits usually include a heating device, thermostat and special rubber hoses that are not effected by the oils involved in the process. Water heater processors help recovering excess methanol that is created during the chemical reaction that creates biodiesel. This cuts the cost per gallon for diesel even further.

The price of the bio diesel fuel kit varies significantly so you will want to research the pros and cons of the kit before buying and installing it, you should also make sure that your car is adaptable for use of this new fuel system and that your car maker allows the use of it, no one wants to discover that he is not covered for damages because he installed a bio diesel fuel kit, so make absolutely sure that your car guarantee covers this option and that your car maker allows the use biodiesel.

Daniel Roshard is an interior designer and environmental activist, studying the integration of traditional house appliances to gardens and outdoors. Daniel writes Biodiesel articles for ZupaTips.com.

You Can Run 100% Bio Diesel Fuel in Any Modern Diesel Motor

2006-05-29T10:43:00.000-07:00

If your car, SUV or pick-up runs on gasoline you cannot just run and 100 percent Ethanol in your vehicle because the motor will not run on it. Even E85 Ethanol, which is 15 percent gasoline and 85 percent ethanol will not just run in any car engine, as you need a special motor to run on that fuel. With bio diesel it is much different and you can run 100 percent bio diesel fuel in any modern diesel motor.

This is the only something to consider if you are think of yourself as an environmentally conscious person and want to help our nation get off its diction to Middle Easter foreign oil. Currently in United States of America we have supply issues with our fuel; both diesel fuel and gasoline. The larger percentage of our population that runs biofuels means that the price fluctuations due to supply and demand issues will be less and that will help keep the prices down so that small businesses and American families are not subjected to severe hardship on their budget.

The BTU per gallon of Diesel Fuel and Bio-Diesel is very similar and biodiesel runs cleaner too almost 15% less CO2 for B20 and other blends as much as 75% less CO2, hey that is a pretty good deal is it not? B100 or rather 100% Diesel Fuel costs about $3.60 per gallon, but the way fuel prices are going you never know, by mid summer 2006 it might be cheaper than normal Diesel Fuels? Consider all this in 2006.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

>/a

Biodiesel the Granddaddy of Fuels

2006-05-21T04:30:00.000-07:00

Tired of high gas prices? Want to save the earth? Want to support local economies and clean the air while getting high performance out of your vehicle? Try Biodiesel. It's clean, sustainable, domestic, renewable AND you can make it at home!!! Wave farewell to petroleum.

Amidst the hybrid hype, there has been little mention of one of the oldest 'alternative' fuels with some tremendous advantages. Invented and patented by Rudolf Diesel in 1893, diesel engines were first made to run on various vegetable oils. Thus, almost any diesel engine outfitted with the right hoses is capable of cleaner, vegan, non-petroleum based Biodiesel operation. (Most newer diesels have the right hoses).

Diesels have tremendous advantages. Although their pricepoint can be somewhat higher initially, it's well worth it in the long run. Diesel engines are well known for their consistent reliability, length of engine life, and perhaps most importantly, their fuel economy. In our ever-growing awareness of planetary resources and taking geopolitical circumstances into account, fuel economy is beginning to take a place of primacy.

When running on biodiesel, there are tremendous emissions benefits as well. Traditional dinosaur-diesel powered engines have gotten a bad rap for their dark, smoky exhaust, smell and pollution of our air. Biodiesel, on the other hand, reduces emissions significantly in every category in which pollutants are measured except nitrous oxide (NOx) which can be adjusted with some slight modifications. Unlike their petroleum powered counterparts, biodiesel exhaust smells pleasantly like the feedstock of whatever vegetable oil is used. (There are tales of people who have used recycled fryer oil for their biodiesel from their local doughnut shop and subsequently end up with visions of Krispy Kreme.)

Performance wise, biodiesel has a higher lubricity than conventional diesel, subsequently acting as a bit of an 'enema' for the engine, cleaning out the dinosaur residue, so be sure and replace the fuel filter after the first couple of tanks of biodiesel. After that, because biodiesel is so clean burning, it actually may reduce maintenance costs and extend engine life.

Europe, which has traditionally been more diesel-heavy than the US, (currently diesels occupy about 40 % of the European market) has recently increased its emissions standards and subsequently the use of biodiesel has taken off in a big way. Europeans are supporting the growth of the biodiesel industry through farming subsidies of biodiesel feedstocks unknown in the US until this week when Oregon introduced a similar bill in their State Legislature.

Another tremendous advantage of Biodiesel is its blend-ability. Biodiesel can be used straight (called B100) or blended in any percentage with conventional #2 diesel, and even at low percentages (B5 or B10) has incredible emissions benefits. Subsequently, if you're out traveling and don't have access to homemade or storebought biodiesel, you can use regular diesel in your tank with no conversion issues.

There are an ever-growing number of biodiesel filling stations available if you don't have space or interest in making your own. Check with www.biodiesel.org for more information of what's available in your area. For more biodiesel resources see www.EcoNurse.com.

On a personal note, I've been running my VW Jetta TDI (Turbo Diesel Injection) on Biodiesel (mostly B100) for the last three years with only good things to say. It's been trouble-free and now it's actually pleasant to have the sunroof open. And if your outdated ideas suggest that diesels compromise performance or speed, feel free to sniff my doughnuts.

A Registered Nurse with a long-term interest in holistic wellness, Katrina Hugenot writes regularly on topics relating to health, nutrition, sustainability, and well-being. She can be contacted at: http://www.EcoNurse.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Katrina_Hugenot