How many of us have heard of running cars on vegetable oil? Converting fryer grease into usable fuel. It’s called biodiesel. I first heard about this on Spike TV’s “Trucks!”. Up to this point I’d heard vaguely about biodiesel and thought it was still experimental. Not so! On the episode the guys took a 2001 Dodge 2500 Cummins pickup and, without any prep work, filled up the tank with biodiesel made with a biodiesel processor they ordered online (they cost $2k-$3k, like this one Here), and put the truck through the rounds. The results? The host/test driver said that there were no noticeable performance differences, in fact he was smoking the tires off that pickup!
Well after seeing this I wanted to research it for myself. For the last month or two I’ve been looking up everything I can get my virtual hands (online) on. What did I find out? Biodiesel is EASY and CHEAP to make! Basically you take filtered waste vegetable oil (wvo) or virgin oil, mix it with lye to raise the pH, and then mix it with about 20-22% methanol. A reaction takes place and you end up with biodiesel and glycerin in the end. The biodiesel actually runs better in a diesel engine because of the natural cleaning and lubricating properties of vegetable oil. There’s even studies ongoing that suggest running a diesel engine on biodiesel will prolong the life of the engine. There’s no more black smoke either, in fact your tailpipe smells like french fries!
So what’s the cost of all this? Well, from my research (which I’m sure is limited), I figure a home-made unit can be built for less that $500 including everything you’d need to get started. To produce the biodiesel costs about $1/gallon (for my local prices), and biodiesels get as good or better fuel mileage than their fossil-fuel counterparts. With gas prices soaring above $3/gal right now, I wonder why more people aren’t doing this!
For a WHOLE lot more information, check out the Collaborative Biodiesel Tutorial Online.
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