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

If you make it from used cooking oil it's not just low-cost however you'll be recycling a bothersome waste item. Most importantly is the GREAT sensation of freedom, independence and empowerment it will give you. Here's how to do it-- everything you need to know.

Straight grease fuel (SVO) systems can be a tidy, efficient and cost-effective alternative. Unlike biodiesel, with SVO you need to modify the engine. The very best method is to fit a professional singletank SVO system with replacement injectors and glowplugs optimised for veg-oil, as well as 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 switch off, like any other car. 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 start the engine on common petroleum diesel or biodiesel in one tank and then change to SVO in the other tank when the veg-oil is hot enough, and change back to petro- or biodiesel before you stop the engine, or you'll coke up the injectors.

More information on straight grease systems in my blog site.

3. Biodiesel or SVO?

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

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

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

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

But the large and rapidly growing worldwide band of homebrewers don't mind-- they make a supply each week or when a month and quickly get utilized to it. Many have been doing it for several years.

Anyway you have to process SVO too, particularly WVO (waste grease, used, prepared), which lots of people with SVO systems utilize because it's cheap or complimentary for the taking. With WVO food particles and impurities and water should be eliminated, and it most likely should be deacidified too. Biodieselers state, "If I'm going to need to do all that I may too make biodiesel instead." But SVO types belittle that-- it's much less processing than making biodiesel, they say. To each his own.