His energy bill is $0.00 (page 3)

Jim_TX

"...biodiesel is not quite as simple as pouring deep fat oil in the tank. It has to processed to raise the octane and remove the glycerin, waxes and food particulates."

Bio-diesel is cool. Back in 2000, I made it all summer long. It runs good in a diesel, and smells pretty good, too.

A little lye and methanol mixed together to make methoxide, and filtered vegetable oil... mixed together, and left to settle for a minimum of 8 hours... bio-diesel.

One needs to also make sure that all of the gaskets can handle the small amount of alcohol in bio-diesel - otherwise they get eaten, and problems ensue. Newer vehicles like VWs (since about 1992 or so) already are using alcohol-resistant gaskets and fuel lines, so they are okay for bio-diesel.

There _is_ a way to run straight vegetable oil in a diesel engine... you just have to pre-heat it to about 175-degrees F before you feed it into the diesel engine. It is also required to start and stop the diesel engine with regular diesel (or bio-diesel), though - so one needs two fuel tanks and a 'switch' so that the fuel tanks can be switched accordingly.

Regards,

Jim TX

PEC

BTW, biodiesel is not quite as simple as pouring deep fat oil in the tank. It has to

processed to raise the octane and remove the glycerin, waxes and food particulates.

On Mythbusters they run fry oil without any processing except filtering. In colder

climates you have to switch to diesel before shutdown, so that the fry oil doesn't

clog the fuel lines and injectors. With a generator you wouldn't have that problem

because, it would not be being shutdown.

Philip

Jim_TX

"On Mythbusters they run fry oil without any processing except filtering. In colder climates you have to switch to diesel before shutdown, so that the fry oil doesn't
clog the fuel lines and injectors. With a generator you wouldn't have that problem because, it would not be being shutdown."

See my previous e-mail.

Mythbusters ain't the be-all end-all for 'reference'. If you want to know how to use straight vegetable oil (SVO) in a diesel engine, look on websites like http://www.biodiesel.org/ - http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_svo.html - or some other more authoritative web site that actually knows what they are talking about.

SVO cannot be used to start a diesel engine - one needs to use regular diesel (or bio-diesel) to start the engine, as well as stop the engine.

SVO needs to be heated prior to being injected into the diesel engine - which means it needs a pre-heat stage - so that it will flow well enough.

In colder climates... well... if you are pre-heating the SVO, you shouldn't have a problem... but there may be other issues that crop up.

Of course... I never played with SVO, so these are just from what I have read, and learned from talking to others who have done it - and are using SVO in their autos (some folks in the Austin, TX area).

Regards,

Jim TX

PEC

Jim TX, you are correct, I could have provided more detail. If someone is going to try SVO, I would hope that they get their information, somewhere besides here.

Philip

BrentR

I really hope biodiesel becomes popular. Maybe we can get more farmers back to work growng a profitable crop and stop relying on dictators for oil. It is still not as clean as some may think but much better then petro. If I had a diesel I would most certainly making my own fuel to avoid the taxes if for no other reason.

TopHat

BA, The houses are so close together...must be close to L.A.

Take a look at the solar stock TSL...it went up today more than 3 points. Darn! I missed it. To late to jump in now.

Brother Apostate

Top Hat,

It's never too late to get in or too early to get out- it's just a matter of how much you're willing to gamble!

It does look as if solar technology may finally become affordable.

I'd like to see 1/100 (or more, preferably) of the research $ being spent on how much humans cause Global Warming go into real research of the pros and cons of these alternative energy sources, especially bio-diesel and ethanol.

My biggest concern is that the agricultural practices of last century and this century are not very green at all, and, ironically, heavy production of plant-based alternatives and their refinement may have a very negative impact on the environment.

BA

BrentR

Which is it going to be? That is why I shake my head and laugh at most progressives, they spend more time fighting with each other and offering contradicting philosophies then acting. Most of thier dynamics are counter productive and they come off looking very phony and quite often hypocritical.

Solar power seems to be everyones darling but it requires alot of mining to get selenium and silicon and the refining process is very toxic. Not to mention how many regions on earth it is completely worthless to try to use.

Wind turbines are clean but they kill birds and are an eyesore.

Soybeans make a great diesel alternative but growing them impacts the environment.

Hydro electric dams are clean but disprupt the salmon migration.

Nuclear power emits zero carbon but produces radioactive waste.

Hydrogen feul cells are emit zero carbon but he manufacturing process is not clean.

You can not have your cake and eat it to. Unless we go back comletely to the stone age someone is going to be bitching and moaning about every alternative that is offered.

Enviromentalists appear to be thier own worse enemy.

Brother Apostate

BrentR,

Excellent points.

From my perspective, alternative forms of energy are certainly needed.

It is important, however, that we at least attempt to honestly understand their impact verses conventional energy sources.

It seems a large segment of the population does not understand that "the grass is always greener" applies to energy as well.

If we aren't honestly evaluating their impact, then we stand to make matters worse, not better, for future genererations.

Those ignorant of these facts are easily swayed by politicized "science", funded by lobbyists whose interests won't be what is best, but who stands to profit therefrom.

The short answer is we must continue exploring alernatives, and do our best to evaluate all the benefits and risks of each

BA

His energy bill is $0.00

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