Crazy European Biodiesel Race

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

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

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?

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?

Biodiesel - Whether you Want it or Not!

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?

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

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).

Biodiesel & Foodcrops

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

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.

Make Biodiesel – Beat the Great Petrol Rip-Off.

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?

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.

Make Biodiesel At Home or Go Broke

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