Anybody can make biodiesel. It's simple, you can make it in your kitchen area-- and it's BETTER than the petro-diesel fuel the big oil companies sell 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 much better for health.

If you make it from used cooking oil it's not just inexpensive however you'll be recycling a problematic waste product. Most importantly is the GREAT feeling of freedom, independence and empowerment it will give you. Here's how to do it-- whatever you need to know.

Straight vegetable oil fuel (SVO) systems can be a clean, and cost-effective alternative. Unlike biodiesel, with SVO you need to customize the engine. The very best way is to fit a professional singletank SVO system with replacement injectors and glowplugs optimised for veg-oil, in addition to fuel heating.

With the German Elsbett single-tank SVO system for example you can use petro-diesel, biodiesel or SVO, in any combination. Just begin up and go, stop and change off, like any other automobile. Journey to Forever's Toyota TownAce van uses an Elsbett single-tank system. More

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

More info on straight grease systems in my blog site.

3. Biodiesel or SVO?

Biodiesel has some clear advantages over SVO: it operates in any diesel, with no conversion or modifications to the engine or the fuel system-- just put it in and go. It also has much better cold-weather residential or commercial properties than SVO (but not as great as petro-diesel-- see Using biodiesel in winter). Unlike SVO,

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

Biodiesel is a tidy, safe, ready-to-use, alternative fuel, whereas it's fair to say that numerous SVO systems are still experimental and require more development.

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

But the big and rapidly growing worldwide band of homebrewers do not mind-- they make a supply weekly or when a month and soon get used to it. Many have actually been doing it for several years.

Anyway you need to process SVO too, especially WVO (waste grease, utilized, prepared), which many individuals with SVO systems utilize due to the fact that it's inexpensive or complimentary for the taking. With WVO food particles and impurities and water must be eliminated, and it most likely should be deacidified too. Biodieselers say, "If I'm going to have to do all that I might also make biodiesel instead." But SVO types discount that-- it's much less processing than making biodiesel, they state. To each his own.