[The CyberPoet]

But even with 75 million gallons of BioDiesel being made/used, over 300 million gallons of WVO (Waste Vegetable Oil) was dumped last year into landfills.

In 25 years, they will be digging up the WVO out of those landfills, and processing it using the method they use now in Canada to separate the crude oil from the sand...

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[SweetLou]

All this talk about bio-diesel is making me want to get a diesel vehicle. I thought about getting something like a Deisel F-250, and getting a grease car conversion.

Sounds like this Bio-Diesel is more convienant that the grease car conversion since you can just dump it in your regular tank.

[BarMatt80]

Q: What do you do with the titration remains? I'm really curious on that one... ever think of dumping it back at the resteraunt?

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

Hiya Cyber,
The titration uses such a small amount of oil (1ml) and chemicals(10ml-15ml)...it can just go down the drain...your just using a small syringe for this...it takes about 30 seconds, but it's critical to do if your going to use WVO.

Joe i think he is refering to after you do the titration and then do the large batch, i think it is used glycerol. aka the black sludge that settles at the bottom of the tank right before you pump the biodiesel into a car.

[The CyberPoet]

Joe i think he is refering to after you do the titration and then do the large batch, i think it is used glycerol. aka the black sludge that settles at the bottom of the tank right before you pump the biodiesel into a car.

Yes, that it what I was talking about -- the waste products left over after the titration...

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[JoeCool]

Joe i think he is refering to after you do the titration and then do the large batch, i think it is used glycerol. aka the black sludge that settles at the bottom of the tank right before you pump the biodiesel into a car.

Yes, that it what I was talking about -- the waste products left over after the titration...

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

Hiya...
After the process is done you are left with BioDiesel and the after product is a Methanol/Glycerin mixture...I distill the methanol out, and recover about 40%, the Glycerin I put into a compost bin in the back yard...you can also make some really cool soap from the glycerin. There is very little of this after product though...


You do titrations to determine how much lye to use for each batch of WVO...SVO (Straight Vegetable Oil) always uses the same amount of lye in the process. There is very little left of the titration (10-15ml) of liquids.

Wishing everyone on KR the best 8)

[JoeCool]

All this talk about bio-diesel is making me want to get a diesel vehicle. I thought about getting something like a Deisel F-250, and getting a grease car conversion.

Sounds like this Bio-Diesel is more convienant that the grease car conversion since you can just dump it in your regular tank.

Hiya SweetLou,
Actually the Greasecar or Griesel conversion are really great options...You can still use BioDiesel along with using SVO straight in the truck/car.
Basically you use Diesel or BioDiesel to start up your car/truck...drive about 2-3 blocks, this will warm up the tank of SVO or WVO (to 160 degrees) in a tank in the car trunk or truck bed...you then push a button in the front cab, and it switchs the vehicle over to run on the heated oil. Before you turn off the vehicle, you switch back to BioDiesel, let it run for about 30 seconds...and shut off the engine.
This system is being used by thousands of people and it works great!

I'm looking at Ford F250's myself I'm going to get this kit installed in the F250. It's a great combo...

Did I mention that Diesel vehicles get 30-40% better mileage than the equivilant gas vehicle...also when you use BioDiesel it will give you 3-5 more mpg than normal diesel...pretty cool stuff.

Take care

[JoeCool]

One last quick bit of info...
This company not too far away from where I live here in So Calif has been making Diesel powered enduro style motorcycles for the military.
They were supposed to release a civilian version of the motorcycle that runs on Diesel or BioDiesel, and gets 120 MPG...yes that's 120 MPG!

It's supposed to be $18K to start, that was the cost they said the first 200 bikes would be, but the price would come down as production ramped up.

Unfortunately they ramped up production, doubled their production actually, but then the military told them they would take all of their production...which just screwed us civilians from getting one for probably another year
But I guess you can't blame them, what they would sell us for $18,000 a bike...they are probably charging the military $200,000 a bike...LOL

Well I'm on their mailing list, and I keep hoping...it's a nice looking motorcycle too.
Here is their www site:

http://www.dieselmotorcycles.com/

Check it out...
Take care 8)

[SKNL2]

This is nothing compared to where it's headed, lads n' ladies. Last summer, the "Katrina Crisis" caused only a 2% drop in production. The BP Alaskan "crisis" will likely cause an 8% drop in production. Here in Charlotte, NC, we were affected by the pipelines' shutdown. There were lines at the pumps, violence and general disarray. I was commuting to and from work on my bicycle at the time and remember the glee I felt seeing the sheep lined up at the pumps and riding past them. It was nirvana.

The entire world economy is based on confidence that there will be steady growth. Steady growth is completely dependent on cheap energy. Without it, the world economy will collapse. When the "butterfly" flaps its wings in the Middle East, it causes a drop in the confidence of the market. This is what causes price spikes. Well, this and other market influences.

Throwing more government at anything is the wrong answer. No one is entitled to cheap energy. There is no provision in the Constitution that says your government should be able to regulate prices of fuel so that you can afford to drive an inefficient vehicle 3 blocks to get something you could have walked to get. There is no provision in the Constitution that says you should be able to live 50 miles from where you work and enjoy huge deficits in what you spend to get there and what you make. The entitlement theory in America is staggering. Oil is a product that the oil companies spent money to produce, paid taxes through the nose on, and their share-holders enjoy profits -- just like any other publicly held corporation.

The oil industry is just that, an industry. They produce a product. Do you feel Microsoft's products are over-priced? I do. I think we should get the governemt to regulate the price of Windows. We all need it. If we don't have it.....so on and so forth,etc. Can I choose another O/S? Sure. Will it run the stuff I want it to? NO. So there I am wanting the government to regulate Windows. This is no more right than wanting to throw more goverment at the oil industry.

Think of the enormous tax-base the oil industry comprises and then think of the consequences to the tax-base having government regulate it would have. Goverment is the most inefficient entity there is. You think the oil industry is corrupt? Try spending a day in Washington, D.C.

The answer is to ween yourself off the stuff. Stop perceiving oil as your birthright and use less of it. Walk when you can. Ride a bike when you can. Ride your motorcycle more. Consolidate trips. Move closer to work if you cannot work from home. Shop farmer's markets.

Big business and government are not going to change. What can change is your attitudes and habits.

/off soapbox

Ready?

[Sky]

Quit talking about it ... they will use it to increase the prices again !!!!

[squiggy]

Any thoughts or info on gas to propane coversion? I saw over on eBay a conversion kit to fit my old Toyota truck (22R). Would propane be considered an alternative fuel? I don't even know if it would be smog legal.


On a seperate note, there was a news story a few years back about those who are making their own homemade fuel and it stated that since the state (CA) is not receiving tax revenue (some kind of road tax that we pay at the pump) from those individuals, that it would become an issue for the state and those individuals down the road. Since those people are driving on the road, yet not paying the state their due tax revenue.

It was quite a while ago and I don't remember all the specifics from that news story.

[SKNL2]

Propane is certainly a cleaner burning fuel, but its cost is rising as well. I haven't researched the logistics of making a personal vehicle run off it. I have seen forklifts and the like that use it.. NPGA.org says there are 10,000 filling stations for propane. I would imagine it would be easy to make it comply with smog regulations..but that nothing more than a guess.

Our current levels of energy consumption cannot be met with alternative sources. The infrastructure is designed around oil and its derrivatives. However, if we use the energy we get from oil to ramp up alternatives, we may be able to sustain a comfortable existence.

[squiggy]

hmmmm...I think I found the answer to my own question. CARB Alternative Fuel Certified Retrofit Systems talks about retrofitting 1994 a newer vehicles. It doesn't say anything about a 1987 vehicles.