Date:         Sun, 23 Jan 2000 23:17:03 -0800
Reply-To:     daveb@CP.NET
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Dave Bayer <daveb@CP.NET>
Subject:      Re: French Fry Exhaust, Was:  biodesiel
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Douglas Demarest wrote:
>
> I read the biodesiel article cited in the recent post and some web pages that
> it linked to.  They claim that any unmodified desiel motor can burn this
> stuff, and that its easy to make from used vegetable oil, which restraunts
> throw away tons of.  It seems like it just can't be this easy.  If it is, why
> aren't all of the desiel Vanagon owners on this list running on french fry
> waste?

        Well, here are some reasons it's not so easy:
1) You need to find a resturant who will give you their oil (many
        seem to have long term contracts with oil recyclers).

2) You need room to store the containers in which you perform the
        esterification as well as the filter mechanism.

3) You need room to store the biodiesel you produce in a location
        near your van for refueling.

4) You need to perform a titration to determine the proper amount
        of lye to use for each batch of biodiesel.

5) You end up with a bunch of glyercin which may contain lye, I
        forget. (If I remember the process correctly, lye is
        merely a catalyst which means it should be left at the
        end of the esterification process). I personally don't
        go through a full bar of soap with every few tanks of fuel
        in my syncro though I suppose I could give the stuff
        away.

6) You're supposed to pay the government excise tax for each
        gallon you use.

7) Biodiesel gels at a lower temp than diesel #2 (which already
        gels at a temp that can create problems in the winter
        for many people). There are solutions to this though.

If you have the room and find a resturant that will give you
their waste oil, you're set. For me, storage of the equipment/
biodiesel itself near the van is the sticking point, and I
wonder just how many weekend days I would give up collecting,
titrating, and than mixing up a batch of fuel. I wish I could
find a gas station selling biodiesel around the sf bay area
though...

dave