Can You Run Your Car On Biodiesel
Before filling your tank with biodiesel, vegetable oil, or any other biofuel, it is essential to find out whether your car is compatible. Mistakes can be very expensive to rectify - at best your car won't run, at worst you could destroy your engine! The first …

Under 1000GBP Biodiesel Processor Equipment
If you would like to make your own Biodiesel regularly it is worth investing in a biodiesel processor (or building your own). A suitable biodiesel processors will heat, mix, settle, and wash your biodiesel - all you need to do is put in the ingredients …

Jatropha For Biodiesel Figures
Jatropha is seen by many to be the perfect biodiesel crop. It can be grown in very poor soils actually generating top soil as it goes, is drought and pest resilient, and it has seeds with up to 40% oil content. Here are some facts and …

Tax on Biofuels
If the idea of free or cheap green fuel appeals then you have probably considered using biodiesel, waste vegetable oil (WVO) or straight vegetable oil in your vehicle. However life is never that simple. Tax (excise duty) is payable on any fuel used to power any …

Butanol Vs Ethanol Fuel Of The Future
In our article Introduction to Ethanol we looked at how ethanol made from corn and other crop waste could be used as a renewable biofuel for ethanol powered vehicles, or mixed into petrol in relatively small quantities (5-10%) to reduce fossil fuel carbon emissions. Ethanol has …

Can Biodiesel Replace Crude Oil
Biodiesel is cleaner than crude oil, it is renewable, it is easy to manufacture, so why are we still using fossil fuel crude oil to make petrol and diesel? Why don't we just grow more crops and make more biodiesel and other biofuels? Well in short, …

Vegetable Oil Fuel Heaters
Vegetable Oil is much thicker than mineral diesel at typical ambient temperatures. Therefore, if a vehicle is to be powered by vegetable oil, the oil must be heated in some way before it reaches the fuel filter and the engine's injectors, or a two tank …

UK Biodiesel Processor Equipment
The manufacture of Biodiesel is still in its infancy in the UK, but there are already many suppliers of the equipment necessary to Make Biodiesel whether on domestic or industrial scales. This article focusses on suppliers of large scale biodiesel processors of the type suitable …

D1 Oils PLC Biodiesel
D1 Oils PLC is a Biodiesel processing company with plantations growing inedible vegetable oil crops, and refineries to convert oil into biodiesel. D1 Oils aim to be the world's leading biodiesel business. D1 Oils have chosen Jatropha Curcas as their primary feedstock because of its high …

Waste Vegetable Oil
Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) is the cheapest fuel for a diesel engine. Since this is a waste product (actually considered a hazardous material from cooking in pubs, restaurants, and chip shops etc you may even get paid to take it away! However, if you want …

Making Alcohol
Ethanol is an alternative fuel which is likely to become more and more important in the near future. Ethanol is usually made from sugar cane, corn, or barley, with corn being the most popular worldwide. Corn is 74% starch (66% convertable to alcohol), is readily …

Introduction To Ethanol
Ethanol is to Petrol (gasoline in USA) what biodiesel is to diesel with both Ethanol and Biodiesel being referred to as biofuels. Ethanol (an alcohol) is primarily made from corn grain starch. When added to petrol it reduces toxic emissions and increases the octane of …

Vegetable Oil Two Tank Conversion
Here is the story of how Alan (The Chipfatflyer) converted a standard diesel powered Japanese people carrier to run on vegetable oil for just £170! Find out here if you can Run Your Car on Biodiesel and/or Vegetable Oil December 2006 This is my personal 2 tank conversion, …

Make a Still
If you would like to distill your own ethanol you need a still into which your fermented brew is heated and the alcohol separated. In the UK it is legal to own a still, but it is illegal to use it to make alcohol. Now available …

Biodiesel Recipe
The recipe for making biodiesel is very simple although there are plenty of dangers involved. This recipe is here for information purposes only and we do not recommend that you attempt to make biodiesel at home. Protective chemical proof gloves, an apron, and goggles must …

The Diesel Tree
The diesel tree - copaifera langsdorfii (pictured below) - from Brazil has an amazing property. Much as a rubber tree can be tapped for latex, or a maple tree for maple syrup, the diesel tree can be tapped for natural diesel! No refining is necessary, …

What is Biogas
Biogas is generated from the anaerobic digestion of organic matter. Biogas is generated in landfill sites since organic matter such as domestic food and garden waste is buried and compressed in a dark oxygen free environment. For decades after a landfill site is filled biogas …

Pelheat Mobile Pelletizer
Pellets are made by compressing biomass - for example wood and waste wood products, straw, and grasses. The pellets created burn cleanly and efficiently and a small volume of burning pellets can produce a large amount of heat as they are a dense store of …

Introduction to Biodiesel
With some modification it is possible to run many diesel engined vehicles on unrefined vegetable oil. The oil needs to be pre-heated, and well filtered before use to prevent coagulation. Biodiesel is the name given to any diesel equivalent biofuel which can be used in …

What is Jatropha
Jatropha Curcas is an excellent biofuel crop which has many other advantages over existing crops. The biofuel yield of various crops has been measured, and is usually given in barrels of oil per square mile per year. Corn is a common biofuel crop in the USA, …

Biogas Powered Passenger Train
Sweden has the world's first biogas powered train running of the 75 mile long coastal stretch between the cities of Linkoeping (south of Stockholm) and Vaestervik (Eastern Baltic). "Amanda" as the train has been named has been carrying passengers since the summer of 2005. Biogas is …

Worlds First Biogas Network to be Built
A network is being built in the North Western German town of Lünen to collect biogas and burn it to provide up to 30-40% of the town's electricity and heat. It is due to be completed by December 2009. Local farms will collect slurry from animals, …

Biodiesel Equipment
Manufacturing biodiesel is a simple process but very dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. The chemicals used, and the vapours released can kill so read this and everything else you can find about biodiesel before you start to play around. Biodiesel can be …

Biodiesel Useful Links
Biodiesel BioDieselNow.com - Forums for biodiesel fuel use in diesel cars, trucks, boats, home heating, and other diesel engine. Bio-power.co.uk - A network of UK-based companies making biofuels from renewable materials. Website contains a wealth of useful information for anyone considering powering their car with biodiesel. BioDiesel Filling …

Introduction To Biomass
Biomass describes fuels which are made from animal and plant waste - for example wood chips, manure, and crop waste. By decomposing animal manure and crop waste using bacteria, methane gas can be generated. Methane generated in this manner is called biogas and can be used …

Biodiesel From Algae
Biodiesel has usually been made from the oil pressed from agricultural crops such as corn, soya, and rapeseed. However there is not enough arable land on the earth's surface to grow sufficient corn to replace the amount of fossil fuel oil we use today, let …

What is Biochar
In our article on carbon capture and storage we looked at how carbon dioxide emissions from power stations can be reduced if we capture the gas and store it under the ground. Unfortunately this process is very expensive. Trees do an excellent job of removing carbon …

Hydrometers For Biodiesel
hydrometer is a simple (typically glass) instrument used to measure the density of liquids. Usable biodiesel has a density of 0.86-0.90 g/ml (grams per millilitre - pure water is roughly 1g per ml). Therefore a hydrometer which covers that full range is required to check the …