Is It Time To Look For Biodiesel?

[mattD110td5x]

With the price of oil going up and up,

and although I don't mind a little bit of global warming,

I would feel more responsible if I was running a

80/20 blend of boidiesel and smelling like a

fish-n-chip shop.

Does anyone on the oz forum use biodiesel?

and

How do you go about getting some, can I buy a

200l drum and mix it myself?

or

Is there somewhere in Sydney where I can

purchase it from a bowser?

thanks guys

Matthew

[cameron]

Hi Matt,

I am pleased to announce to you and fellow forumites that we have established a new Sydney Biodiesel Users Group.

We had our second meeting on the Wednesday of this week just passed with a BBQ, a few beers, an inspection of a portable biodiesel reactor built into a pretty funky (but very expensive) enclosed box trailer at my work - the University of New South Wales.

Of extra value and even greater excitement was a talk to those assembled by Adrian Lake representing the commercial biodiesel plant on the NSW Central Coast.

We were all very happy to hear that within a couple of weeks Ferrys on Sydney Harbour will be running on biodiesel as a cleaner, more environmentally friendly fuel - particularly because this means for us that we also will be able to purchase biodiesel from a bowser in Sydney!

Want to find out more?

Check out www.sydneybiodiesel.com

Regards,

Cameron

[garrycol]

Does anyone know if the BioDiesel service station at Hexam just north of Newcastle still exists.

Also - while the car will run fine on 100% biodiesel - will a diesel run on a mixture of diesel and properly filtered cooking oil (not biodiesel). I understand that some low tech diesels will actually run on 100% cooking oil - when I use the term cooking oil I am not talking about BioDiesel.

Gazz

[Neil Marshall]

Runnning on chip fat isn't just ecomically sensible - 42 pence a litre of cooking oil from ASDA against 98 pence a litre from Esso, but it reduces carbon monoxide emission by 10% and particulates by an astonishing 50%. Although carbon dioxide emissions rise by 2%, this is more than countered by the plants from which the oil came absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere when they were growing.

So this is carbon recycling. Without any need to modify the engine, any Land Rover diesel could run on the mix with no discernible difference in performance. What's more, instead of diesel fumes, the exhaust gives off a rather pleasing odour - like frying time at the local chippy.

Unfortunately, the boys in blue aren't likely to congratulate you for your green credentials unless you can show you've paid petrol excise duties....the silly buggers!

And you might find the odd pedestrian honking up cos they're allergic to fish shop fumes.

Now I'm sure I read recently that a police force in the Midlands were thinking of switching to duty paid chip fat.....so.....'evening all'..... here's the recipe.....

It must be stressed that this recipe has been widley tested and has proven to work - the viscosity of the vegoil is reduced to ensure a clean burn and the glycerin appears to be burnt off as a waste product. But for the record neither I nor the Forum nor my neighbour Mad Jerry Slee can accept any responsibility whatsoever for it's use. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

You need to locate a source of decent used vegetable oil.....from local restaurants for example......heat it up to cooking temperatures and let it cool. It will need to be strained through a fine filter to remove any crispy fried fish bits!

Next step is to add a solvent to bring down the viscosity.

White spirit is the best, easily available product and preferably non-Kerosene based (for tax purposes).

To make 1 litre of Biodiesel, add 3mls of spirit to 97mls of used vegoil and leave to stand for up to a week...that's it!

Don't be too fussy about the condition or provenance of the oil with which to start the production process. Cooked or uncooked, clean or dirty sunflower, grapeseed, soya, rape and olive oils are all good. Some say that a particular Chinese plant is best, others swear by a fast-growing alga.

I hate the idea that almost all Britain's estimated annual 70m litres of waste cooking oil goes to animal feed or is just chucked down the drain. Hey,whose is that 2A that smells of a large haddock and mushy peas?

Neil

[LR90]

As I understand it you can delare to Customs and Excise your are using bio fuel and just send them the cheque for the duty on however many ltrs of oil you've used. I think this is some 20p p ltre against the 40+p per litre we pay on diesel. As long as your return seems appropriate to your millage and trucks mpg you'll not likely be troubled and can still make a good saving while staying the right side of the law.

[simonr]

I'd heard also that adding a bit of the diesel fuel additive (such as Millers) helps a lot on the pump lubrication front.

This in itself may be enough to reduce the viscosity?

Si