BIO-DIESEL - Anyone making?

[PA Mamma]

Greetings !

We are very interested in Bio-diesel but I have not had the time to research it much at all. Any REPUTABLE links, sites and publications would be greatly appreciated.
Anyone here who knows about or has personal experience with producing their own?

Thanks in advance !

[mike_c]

1. lots of good links-- just google....

I have a number of friends who drive it-- all buy commercially from a local supplier, I believe.

[Kelvin Mace]

2. Here you go

http://www.greasel.com/
http://www.biodieselsolutions.com/home/home.asp

[graywarrior]

3. Willie Nelson is selling it.

http://www.wnbiodiesel.com/

[file83]

4. Good move...

My friend in Oregon just started buying biodiesel for his big truck he bought and he says he actually felt really good inside and guilt free after he filled up his first tank of BioDiesel. He said it he felt like he stepped into the future. He's never going back he said. He's getting all his firefighting buddies to try it out and to stand next to his truck's exhaust compared to a truck running with petroDiesel. He said it smells much different.

[jobycom]

6. It definitely pollutes less. My car smokes less on biodiesel, and runs

much smoother. They claim it is because of the increases lubricity. Unfortunately, I have to drive a ways to get it, and it isn't always worth the extra miles. But I use it when I can.

[jobycom]

5. I've researched it. Haven't made it, but I've bought it

The best link is at http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel.html

This website is fantastic. It also talks about waste vegetable oil and straight vegetable oil as straight fuels. They require some tank adjustments (Unless you have an old 5 cylinder Mercedes), and this link will give you background and links to people who sell conversion kits.

Also, there are a lot people on Ebay who sell parts and instructions (and even cars) for the whole process. One guy sells instructions for about five bucks or less to tell you how to make a biodiesel still out of pretty cheap parts (large barrel, old trolling motor, stuff like that).

For biodiesel, you have to have steady supply of oil. It's best to use clean oil, but cheapest to use waste oil. Waste oil makes the process a little harder, but a good set of instructions will make it easy enough. Clean oil will be easier on your engine. The other ingredient in biodiesel that is harder to find is methanol. You have to find a racing store or an airport willing to sell it, and it ain't cheap. It's also petroleum based, so biodiesel isn't completely petroleum free. For that reason, some people prefer grease cars (used vegetable oil).

Anyway, that's a summary. You can buy biodiesel in many places. Search this link: http://www.biodiesel.org/buyingbiodiesel/distributors/

Also google Bio Willie, to find places Willie Nelson's company sells biodiesel.

I'm in a hurry now, but if you have any questions, post them or PM me. This was a hobby of mine, but I moved into an apartment, and can't really make it now.

[philb]

7. Whether its energy and cost effective depends on how its made

Bio-Diesel from fast food fats is energy and cost effective and can be done where there is a big enough concentration of such.

but from crops like soybeans its questionable. though being promoted a lot. Its not energy effective because it takes a lot of energy to grow the soybeans and you don't get much bio-diesel from just the beans. Likewise for corn and ethanol. Not very energy effective, depending on how its grown and processed. Not a major solution.

Some feed source that uses more of the plant would be more effecient.
Like a fast growing plant where most of the plant could be used.

[Dogmudgeon]

9. Trans-esterification is an easy process

There are now literally hundreds of web pages on how to purify and transesterify vegetable oil. There are also dozens of manuals available from websites, P2P, and by mail order. It is an easy, straightforward process with minimal risk. The worst part of it is that you need lye as a reagent, which is not a hassle is you take some basic, low-tech precautions in using it.

If you can make chili by the quart, you can make biodiesel by the gallon.

As problems go, the BIG one is that there will soon be a huge push for people to get vegetable oil from local restaurants to make biodiesel. In a way, that will be good: it will prompt farmers to grow and sell oil-producing crops, and the development of local businesses making oil from algae.

Biodiesel could be what saves our collective ass -- but the energy problems are going to take an intensive, well-informed effort. Biodiesel looks like a promising start.

--p!

[PA Mamma]

8. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU...

WOW !
That was fast. THANKS to all of you!

File83, Hmmm - maybe it’s a Firefighter thing, my husband was a firefighter. ;)

Jobycom, that is such an awesome site! :yourock:

From a quick glance, it looks like we’re still mostly interested in buying a used Diesel Mercedes and making our own Bio-diesel fuel from waste oil rather than going with a conversion for SVO or Mixes. For one, we have cold winters to consider and I don’t think it would be convenient to have to switch the tanks on starts and stops. I just hope we can find free and convenient sources of WVO, which I suspect might be tough. We are currently living in rural Western Pennsylvania, but will soon be moving back to more urban digs. One main reason for the move IS our dependence on gasoline out here in the country - in the car all the time & too much lawn - not enough herbivores to help out. Never thought I’d miss riding the bus ! Anyway, we should have enough room at the new place to cook up our own. Just worried about safety with the pets and kids. So I plan on taking my time to set up properly.
Think I’ll try to find any locals who are making their own, for advice on starting up too. But this was a great primer: http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_make.html

Again, Thanks -

Let you all know when I have some soap for ya !
:loveya:

[jobycom]

11. WVO and SVO isn't best for stop and go, and has problems with cold

On most cars. If you buy one of the old 5 cylinder Mercedes, you would have fewer problems, because of the way it is designed, and because the fuel tanks are inside the cars (behind the seat, in the trunk).

Still, biodiesel is probably a better solution. One problem with the Journey to Forever website is they aren't sold on WVO, so they overstate the problems. Still, I don't use it, and I'm in a warm climate.

I've got an 82 (83 engine) Mercedes 300 Turbodiesel that was well maintained and raised in the south (no rust). Found it on Ebay. It's a great car. 23 years old, and it runs as well as any car I've owned, barring the ones I've bought almost new. Parts are very expensive, so don't buy one with a problem you hope to fix unless you get a great deal on it. Those MBs are well made. There are two, counting mine, in the parking lot at my work (small parking lot), and mine's the younger one. It looks good, too.

Just more of my hard-learned knowledge. As I said, I made a hobby of this for a while, so it's fun actually being able to use what i learned now and then. :-)

[IDemo]

10. biodiesel forum

There is quite an active forum at biodieselnow. Mike Briggs of the University of New Hampshire is the moderator and is a leading researcher into large scale manufacturing of biodiesel from algae.

[FreeMason]

12. Bio-Diesel

Bio-Diesel is not a viable replacement for Oil...it is too much to make too little for too little results.

[dcfirefighter]

13. nothing is a direct replacement

but, as oil prices increase (hopefully by capturing externalities), the millions of years of stored energy will have to be replaced with new energy sources.

I predict higher prices will lead to conservation and alternative higher efficiency freight transport.

As for biodiesel, encouraging results from the now defunct National Renewable Energy Laboratory showed the feasibility of producing 10-15,000 gallons of biodiesel per acre per year from open raceway algae ponds. At that yield, the entire mobile use of fuel in the US could be replaced with algae-oil from ponds on 5% of the land currently used for grazing.