DIY: Make your own biodiesel for fun and profit
Etruk, a UK company, is selling a do it yourself biodiesel machine that will turn your fry grease into fuel for just pennies a gallon! For just £895 ($1,821) you can buy its smallest distiller that turns out 40-liter batches. Etruk's site says it's perfect for keeping a single car fueled. Or you can step up to the largest machine, which costs £2,095 ($4,265) and churns out 150 liters of fuel at a time. Just the right amount says the site for someone who wants to start their own biodiesel fueling station.While it's legal for Brits to make their own highly-flammable fuel right in their own back yards, it's not clear how U.S. authorities would react. We can easily see your neighbors freaking out at the site of this thing next to your kids' swing set. So before you go ordering one of these, check your state and local laws. That is, unless you're just dying to know what Guantanomo is like in the fall.
[Source: Gizmodo]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
AlexP 7:13PM (8/03/2007)
eh - I'm curious to know how long it takes to make 150L of BD, seeing as my next car (4 years from now) will probably be a diesel (and I hope it will be able to gulp BD).
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Rambo 7:44PM (8/03/2007)
Yes you can make biodiesel this way but the process is actually a little more complicated is you want high quality diesel fuel for your modern CDI diesel engine. I recommend the following book before I would consider making your own fuel.
Biodiesel, Basics And Beyond (by William Kemp)
fizzandpop 7:16PM (8/03/2007)
Oh Jesus, all the hippies in my neighborhood will get one of these regardless of the law. And because they're all mechanically clueless, they'll set them up wrong, get frustrated and probably leave the mess for someone else to clear up/pay for. For that is what hippies do. F**k!
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Farris 7:18PM (8/03/2007)
I seem to remember a new story awhile ago about a guy in the Midwest being basically attacked by the authorities for making his own BD. I think they're reasoning was that he was avoiding the fuel tax by not using pump diesel.
I would be very careful with something like this...
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TwistedKestrel 7:25PM (8/03/2007)
I could be wrong, but haven't these been available in the States for a couple years now anyway?
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automagv 7:32PM (8/03/2007)
Awesome. If the government refuses to admit to global warming and insists on depending on foreign oil, leave it to the private sector to create their own solution. I hope that a US distributer offers this to the public here.
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asdfghjkl 5:36AM (8/05/2007)
@automagv
its not about the government's refusal to admit to global warming. its about road taxes that EVERYONE must pay. unless you evade your taxes which in turn is illegal.
mike-1-2-7 11:03AM (8/05/2007)
- there's a gas station with a diesel pump in my town,
the pump's got on it "Not For Highway Use".
So, I think farmers should be in the clear.
Henry 8:35PM (8/03/2007)
Biodiesel is NONFLAMMABLE you idiots.
Learn the difference between flammable, nonflammable and combustible!
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LedFoot 11:20PM (8/03/2007)
1) biodiesel has a flash point around 300 degrees Fahrenheit, so it's "non-flammable" but still highly dangerous.
2) the most common transesterification agents (methanol and ethanol) are completely volatile, flammable materials. You would need to have these on-hand if you were to be processing tens or hundreds of liters of biodiesel on a regular basis.
3) one should always make sure they consider the full context of their statements before calling others idiots, lest they should appear idiotic themselves.
robz4 10:54PM (8/03/2007)
" That is, unless you're just dying to know what Guantanomo is like in the fall. "
That is funny but it should be spelled "Guantanamo " .
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Dan 11:51PM (8/03/2007)
I know a guy making biodiesel in 55 gallon batches in his backyard. He's getting his fry oil for free from the local Chinese restaurants, who are glad to have it off their hands. There's nothing magic about the process, it's like making soap but with slightly different chemicals. The result is biodiesel and glycerin. Kind of like brewing your own beer... sometimes it works great and sometimes it needs troubleshooting. But he's running a big modern Ford turbo diesel truck on the stuff without trouble, and he could make it faster than he could burn it if he had more time to mind the reactor. Given all the tankage and pumps and chemicals, I have no idea if he's broken even yet.
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chuck goolsbee 12:53AM (8/04/2007)
Tone down the hyperbole guys. In the end, the stuff is vegetable oil. Since when is having a giant vat of fryer oil hazardous or illegal?
There is no need to fork out big bucks for a processor. You can make one yourself from an old electric water heater and about $100 worth of parts from your local hardware store, and $35 for a pump from Harbor Freight. The plans are available on the Internet.
BioDiesel is not that volatile or flammable... it does burn but it takes work to get it to go. It does burn for a long time after ignition, but it does NOT flash or explode like gasoline.
The methanol you use to make BioDiesel is quite flammable though... on par with gasoline. The lyes used as a catalyst are quite caustic and require knowledge in handling. Read your MSDS'!
Thankfully the quantities of the above two chemicals required to make BioDiesel are not that great. The majority ingredient of BioDiesel is plain old vegetable oil.
Homebrewing is not illegal. It does require permits for storage of more than X quantity of methanol... depending on your state and municipality's laws. If you keep your quanities low, you can likely avoid any "Imperial entanglements" as Obi Wan would say.
If you want to try and be humorous about BioDiesel, try french fries and bear bait instead of explosions and Gitmo Detentions. The former is far more likely than the latter two.
--chuck
http://chuck.goolsbee.org
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sanman 11:25AM (8/04/2007)
Finally, a voice of reason...
Maytag 1:45AM (8/04/2007)
Biodiesel, schmiodiesel. Way safer than the dude in Portland who tried to make his own hydrogen fuel cell [The Oregonian]: http://tinyurl.com/3dvkxp
"The metal appeared solid. But when he removed the crucible and turned it upside down, it began to bleed liquid mercury, which flared into a fire"
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aaron 2:23AM (8/04/2007)
No, this is funny...
""Then the ingredients caught fire. White smoke filled the hallways. Residents tasted metal on their tongues. "I felt something weird settle in my throat," said Theo Burke, a musician and political worker who was getting ready at his apartment feet from the garage to go salsa dancing.""
What the f@ck do people do up there? Great to be busy and happy or whatever, but seriously.
Musician + political worker + likes to do the salsa= Liberals are lame
Ben 1:14AM (8/06/2007)
Aaron,
Wouldn't you like to know what we do "up here"! Let's add it up: what does 8 months of rain, copious amount of alcohol (and similar drugs) and continual battles with Seasonal Disaffective Disorder equal??? At least we're interesting... so what's your excuse? :P
--Ben (suffering from another cloudy August day in Portland)
Paul 9:54AM (8/04/2007)
How could you possibly know that this person was a liberal? Conservatives don't play music? Conservatives don't dance?
If only conservatives weren't political workers...
andre 6:48AM (8/06/2007)
I believe you can make upto 400 gallons of BD before you have to start paying any type of taxes. The Brits have to pay taxes regardless of how many they make.
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Thomas Holmes 10:42PM (8/25/2007)
Anybody tell me how to make biodiesel for motorbikes?
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