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

If you make it from used cooking oil it's not only low-cost however you'll be recycling a frustrating waste product. Most importantly is the GREAT sensation of freedom, self-reliance and empowerment it will provide you. Here's how to do it-- everything you need to know.

Straight vegetable oil fuel (SVO) systems can be a tidy, effective and cost-effective alternative. Unlike biodiesel, with SVO you have to modify the engine. The very best way 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 utilize petro-diesel, biodiesel or SVO, in any combination. Just begin up and go, stop and change 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 need to start 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 likewise has better cold-weather homes than SVO (but not as good as petro-diesel-- see Using biodiesel in winter). Unlike SVO,

it's backed by many long-term tests in numerous nations, including countless miles on the roadway.

Biodiesel is a tidy, safe, ready-to-use, alternative fuel, whereas it's to say that lots of SVO systems are still speculative and need further 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 utilized oil (and depending upon where you live). And unlike SVO, it has to be processed initially.

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 utilized to it. Many have actually been doing it for years.

Anyway you need to process SVO too, specifically WVO (waste veggie oil, utilized, prepared), which many individuals with SVO systems use because it's inexpensive or complimentary for the taking. With WVO food particles and pollutants and water must be removed, and it probably needs to be deacidified too. Biodieselers say, "If I'm going to have to do all that I may also make biodiesel rather." But SVO types belittle that-- it's much less processing than making biodiesel, they say. To each his own.