Anybody can make biodiesel. It's simple, you can make it in your cooking area-- and it's BETTER than the petro-diesel fuel the big oil companies offer you. Your diesel motor will run much better and last longer on your home-made fuel, and it's much cleaner-- better for the environment and better for health.

If you make it from used cooking oil it's not just inexpensive but you'll be recycling a bothersome waste item. Most importantly is the GREAT feeling of freedom, self-reliance and empowerment it will offer you. Here's how to do it-- whatever you need to know.

Straight vegetable oil fuel (SVO) systems can be a tidy, efficient and affordable choice. Unlike biodiesel, with SVO you have to modify the engine. The best method is to fit a professional singletank SVO system with replacement injectors and glowplugs optimised for veg-oil, along with fuel heating.

With the German Elsbett single-tank SVO system for instance you can utilize petro-diesel, biodiesel or SVO, in any mix. Just launch and go, stop and turn off, like any other vehicle. Journey to Forever's Toyota TownAce van uses an Elsbett single-tank system. More

There are also two-tank SVO systems which pre-heat the oil to make it thinner. You have to start the engine on common petroleum diesel or biodiesel in one tank and after that change to SVO in the other tank when the is hot enough, and switch back to petro- or biodiesel before you stop the engine, or you'll coke up the injectors.

More information on straight veggie oil systems in my blog site.

3. Biodiesel or SVO?

Biodiesel has some clear benefits over SVO: it works in any diesel, without any conversion or adjustments to the engine or the fuel system-- simply put it in and go. It also has better cold-weather properties than SVO (however not as good as petro-diesel-- see Using biodiesel in winter season). Unlike SVO,

it's backed by many long-lasting tests in lots of nations, including countless miles on the road.

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

On the other hand, biodiesel can be more pricey, depending just how much you make, what you make it from and whether you're comparing it with brand-new oil or used oil (and depending upon where you live). And unlike SVO, it has actually to be processed initially.

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

Anyway you need to process SVO too, particularly WVO (waste grease, used, prepared), which numerous individuals with SVO systems utilize because it's inexpensive or totally free for the taking. With WVO food particles and pollutants and water should be eliminated, and it probably must be deacidified too. Biodieselers say, "If I'm going to need to do all that I might too make biodiesel instead." But SVO types belittle that-- it's much less processing than making biodiesel, they state. To each his own.