Free fuel anyone ??

[Shewie]

I saw this mentioned on tv the other day and thought it was a great idea. Only draw back is you need to get hold of at least 50L of used cooking oil a week, so unless you own a chip shop or are best mates with the local take-away then that could be hard work.

Unfortunately the car I`m running at the moment is no good for this system.

At £2,500 a piece I think they should do pretty well.

http://www.greenfuels.co.uk/index.htm

Rich

 

[Eric_Methven]

That's excellent. I've been keeping an eye out for something like this to come along. Biodiesel for the diesel cars, and Bioethanol for the petrol cars. Now with current legislation allowing up to 1500ltr home fuel production per year, which equates on average to something like 14,000 miles, there's no reason not to go over to biofuel, purely from a financial viewpoint. I don't do anything like 14,000 miles a year, so that'd be plenty enough.

I worked it out using used vegetable oil, it would cost 5p per litre. 40p per litre if you buy the vegetable oil new. Either way, it'll slash fuel bills at least in half and fuel cost is the main consideration in my case. The environmental advantage is a bonus.

Thanks for the link.

Eric

 

[Greg]

Does anyone know how much a conversion would cost, only a rough idea is all I need!
Seeing as I have two Dsl vehicles it would definately be a bonus.

 

[Eric_Methven]

The only time you need a conversion is if you use straight veg oil. Biodiesel can go straight into a diesel tank and no conversion needed. You can also mix it in any proportion with petroleum diesel.

Eric

 

[EdS]

or fit a twin tank and pre heater system for £200-500 and run on 100% oil once the engine is up to temp. This system will work for most non common rial diesels.

With that machine you will still have to filter the used oil, titrate, by methanol and caustic soda plus legal get rid of glycerine.

And it is 2500l duty free - you still need to register and if you use waste oil you will need a Waste Carriers License (from the EA £136 p.a.). The place you get the oil from can delivery to you with out, but you still need t ogive them a reciept they need to keep for 2 years.

 

[mr dazzler]

And it is 2500l duty free - you still need to register and if you use waste oil you will need a Waste Carriers License (from the EA £136 p.a.).

What does the punter actually get for there £136 fee? (other than pay wages and pensions for the jobworth beauracat inspector's who run the EA scheme of course)

 

[bushscout1]

I think that the £136 cost is for the Waste Carriers License which lasts 3 years, so it'd only be about £45 / year.

 

[Nagual]

I just posted a thread in resources about using a bio diesel filter as a milbank type of thing...

here is the post I just made, and here is the site which sells them along with tons of other bits n bobs - no idea what it all does but might be useful to those who are interested.

Not affiliated with them in any way, just thought it might be useful.


Nag.

 

[Mike Ameling]

Don't forget your "unseen" costs when choosing to make and use biodiesel made from cooking oil.

- What is your peronal time worth? You do have to spend a lot of time doing the work to covert it.
- Cost and time spent traveling around to collect used cooking oil?
- Space to set aside to do the work/conversion - and storage.
- Cost of supplies (those enzyms, and safe disposal of wastes.
- Cost of utilities to run the machine
- Zoning and insurance? It might be against local building codes and your home-owners insurance might be affected.
- Vehicle warrenty problems using home-made biodiesel?

And don't forget the problems with all those stray cats chasing you around after you convert a batch of cooking oil from the local fish-n-chips joint!

They said 2500L duty free? Well, here in the US, most States have something similar. They have a "road use tax" applied to every gallon of fuel sold in their State - so many cents per gallon. The rate varies per State. Generally, it has been pretty much ignored. But now some States are cracking down on it, and handing some people a hefty "tax" bill! They've started with some of the prominant advocates - especially after some did TV/newspaper interviews talking about how much extra "cheap" it is because you don't have to pay those road-use taxes added in at the pump! Some State tax men took that kind of personal, so they "enforced" the collection of that tax.

It's a good concept, especially if you have more "time than money". Just be careful of those "hidden costs".

Mikey - yee ol' grumpy blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[Matt Weir]

or fit a twin tank and pre heater system for £200-500 and run on 100% oil once the engine is up to temp. This system will work for most non common rial diesels.

Any recommendations for these EdS?

 

[Salix]

My colleague converted his diesel landy to run on both diesel and veg oil, he gets the veg oil from a local restaurant, he's more than happy with it, he starts off on diesel for about 5 mins then switches over to the veg oil, saves him a small fortune.


Mark

 

[EdS]

Waste Carriers License is for 3 years. Anyone carrying any waste other than their own needs one really.

For advice on systems look and ask here:

http://www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk/forum/index.php

 

[In Wood]

I run a Mitsibishi Delica, a Jap import 4x4 on an M reg.
I have done a lot of research into bio fuels etc and found on the Delica owners club site that the older ie M reg would run on straigh veg oil no conversions at all. I also work in the motor trade so have a lot of background knowledge (qualified mech).

So since september last year I have been running on veg oil. Not had an ounce of trouble at all, in fact I am convinced it runs better.

I have so far used new oil and used oil that has been filtered, but not treated in any way.
All I do is change my fuel filter every 6k miles, with the filter costing £3.50 a shot it works out a hell of a lot cheaper than diesel at £110 p/ltr.

There is a web site that lists which engines will run neet and which need adapting (cant find it at the mo but will edit when I do).
Basicaly if you have an older diesel you will be OK, if you have a HDI or new one you need conversion.

At the end of the day the origional diesel engine was built to run on peanut oil, modern diesel is far too thin (viscous).

 

[tommy the cat]

A number of peeps have been running their t25 vw on a mixture of veg oil and diesel.This works I believe without the need for any mods. Obviously the thicker v.oil needs either heating or diluting to make it work. I thought that I read that the old Landy dervs needed nowt doing to them to work if the veg oil was diluted?
Anyway got to worth looking at considering the prices of derv. Dave

 

[SimonM]

This isn't a new idea, but I'm glad it is getting more popular. During WWII agricultural vehicles ran on bio-diesel made from fish oil!

Just remember tho that bio-diesel damages rubber fuel lines and gaskets (fitted on older vehicles) so check these before you use.

Also if you have used mineral diesel for any length of time it leaves deposits in your engine. These will be "flushed" out when you first switch to bio-diesel and you will notice a drop off in performance within a few hundred miles. This is easily fixed by changing you fuel filter!

Never used the stuff but did a reseach project on it for my degree!

Simon

 

[reddave]

http://fifthgearforum.five.tv/jsp/5gmain.jsp?lnk=a32&id=221&last=0
http://www.focenergy.com/
http://www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk/forum/viewthread.php?tid=400

just a few to start with but its a subject I would love to know more about