Friday, May 05, 2006

Biodiesel for fun and profit!

First things first, when I go to grill out, I grab bun-sized Beef Franks, not tofu-dogs. I still enjoy the occassional McDonald value meal, and I shop at walmart.

I also don't like spending nearly $3 per US Gallon of Gasoline.

Enter BioDiesel. It can be made from almost any vegetable oil, and is less toxic than table salt. I've heard some diesel engines produce more horespower when using B100 (100% Biodiesel) than when using petrolium-based diesel. The only thing that might make that possible is the fact that the original Diesel engine was intended to run off of vegetable oil, not petrolium.

While many diesels can run off of straight vegetable oil (the kind you can buy off the shelf at your local grocery store), it will probably wind up clogging something up unless you modify your vehicle to accept the thicker fluid. Processing vegetable oil into biodiesel will remove the thick viscosity. The byproduct of creating biodiesel is glycerine, which is used in skincare products, cough-syrups, food sweeteners/preservatives, and many other things.

Many people who produce their own biodiesel claim to spend less than $0.50 per US gallon. Imagine filling a 16 Gallon tank for $8!

Just some fuel for thought.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I like the idea of biodiesel. Wish I still had my old diesel Mercedes and access to biodiesel. Once someone starts making E85 and biodiesel in mass and there is easy access everywhere, it will really catch on. Brazil has been making E85 for years and American car manufactures have been selling them flexfuel autos.