Biodiesel Power To The People!

As a barrel of oil hovers around $68 a barrel on world commodity markets, and could hit $80-$100 a barrel later this year if the situation with Iran or in Palestine with Hamas contnues to worsen, the average person who finds themselves dependent on the big oil companies could break their dependence on these companies and avoid both high fuel prices for fuel for diesel powered vehicles such as automobiles and trucks as well as provide their own heating fuel for a very low cost from used soybean cooking oil that many fast food and other businesses would normally throw away.

If war should break out in the MidEast, the U.S. would have to use it's strategic oil reserves, which could eventually force fuel rationing in the U.S. as Iran could disrupt the world oil supply as they control the entire MidEast supply of oil and control the Strait Of Hormuz. Iran has proven past ability to challenge U.S. Navy ships that escorted oil tankers through this strait during the 1980's, and with a large supply of missiles could attempt to sink oil tankers to choke off this world supply of oil in hopes of bringing the Western economies to their knees. While 90% of Iran's economy is dependent on oil, and would suffer the most, it still cannot be ignored that Iran could consider the economic power of oil to be a frontline weapon to blunt any U.N. sanctions against their state over the nuclear enrichment crisis with the world.

All of this uncertainty for homes that depend on heating oil or for vehicles that are powered by diesel engines leaves the owners in a position of being a slave to the world conditions which could dramatically raise prices or lead to unpredictable fuel rationing or supply problems. The home production of biodiesel fuel is a step that the individual can legally do within their own garage to ensure a ready supply of heat for their home and fuel for their diesel engined car or truck.

Biodiesel fuels can be produced from any vegetable oil source. Any oil made from bean oils such as soybean oil as well as seed and nut oils can be made into biodiesel fuel. In fact the first diesel engines ever designed were made to run on fuel made from peanut oil. And German submarines designed for WWII were built to run on alternative fuels such as biodiesel fuels in the event of short fuel supplies. Oils made from both olives as well as sea algae can also be processed into biodiesel fuels at home.

One company that makes the home processing of biodiesel fuels easy for the home garage is Freedom Fuel America. They can supply equipment such as main processing unit known as the FuelMeister which includes the main reaction tank, pumps, pH testing equipment and other items to make the home processing of used waste cooking oils into cheap biodiesel fuels that only cost about 70cents a gallon to make.

The chemical conversion of used french fry oil from McDonalds or some other source is not as complicated as one would believe. The used vegetable cooking oil is pumped from a supply tank into the main reaction tank in the FuelMeister unit and can be made into 20 or 40 gallon fuel supply amounts at a time. Some common lye available from any hardware store that is used as a drain cleaner and some methanol are the only two other ingredients required for the process to convert vegetable cooking oil into fuel. However it is recommended that a patented product known as LDL(Longer Diesel Life) also be added to any batch of biodiesel produced to extend the life of the fuel and prevent any growth of bacteria or fungus from building up. With this additive, biodiesel offers the advantages of 50% lower tailpipe emissions, 6 to 10% better fuel mileage than fossil fuels and has lubrication properties far better than fossil fuels as well.

A small amount of the cooking oil must be used in a titration test to judge the pH level of the oil and how much lye and methanol must be used to convert the oil into biodiesel fuel. Freedom Fuel America also offers all these supplies as well. The pH indicator of the fuel must be brought to 8 or 9 on the scale, and an easy to read chart then indicates the amount of lye and methanol required for the conversion process into biodiesel fuel.

The FuelMeister unit only takes around an hour to allow the mix of vegetable cooking oil, lye and methanol to take place and be converted into biodiesel fuel. During this time the lye will break apart the vegetable oil molecules which will then cause the hydrocarbon chain to bond to the methanol molecules, and the lye will cause waste glycerine to sink to the bottom of the main reaction tank. This waste glyerine is surprisingly a nontoxic and safe product. It can be boiled into homemade soap or used as an excellent safe liquid handsoap or degreaser.

The resulting batch of 20 to 40 gallons of biodiesel fuel will provide excellent performance in diesel engined cars or trucks or can be used as an excellent additive to home heating oil to extend the supply and dramaticly lower home heating costs.

If the MidEast situation continues to become more intense, and instead of the average person being forced into high prices or even rationing or fuel shortages, biodiesel presents a great homemade fuel alternative. Large fuel companies so far have not found biodiesl to be cost effective, however Volkswagon and Archer Daniels MIdland continue to express interest in this alternative fuel source. And some home heating oil companies do offer a mix of biodiesel and fossil fuels. But for now, the for small home production of homemade biodiesel fuels made from used vegetable cooking oil available for free from most any business that uses cooking oil can be processed very cheaply at home in to a cleaner burning superior performing fuel source than fossil fuels and for just 70cents a gallon. Such a deal!