Anybody can make biodiesel. It's simple, you can make it in your cooking area-- and it's BETTER than the petro-diesel fuel the big oil companies sell you. Your diesel motor will run much better and last longer on your home-made fuel, and it's much cleaner-- much better for the environment and better for health.

If you make it from used cooking oil it's not just low-cost but you'll be recycling a bothersome waste item. Best of all is the GREAT feeling of freedom, independence and empowerment it will provide you. Here's how to do it-- everything you need to know.

Straight grease fuel (SVO) systems can be a tidy, reliable and cost-effective option. Unlike biodiesel, with SVO you have to modify the engine. The very best way is to fit a professional singletank SVO system with replacement injectors and glowplugs optimised for veg-oil, as well as fuel heating.

With the German Elsbett single-tank SVO system for example you can use petro-diesel, or SVO, in any mix. Just launch and go, stop and turn off, like any other car. Journey to Forever's Toyota TownAce van uses an Elsbett single-tank system. More

There are also two-tank SVO systems which pre-heat the oil to make it thinner. You have to begin the engine on ordinary petroleum diesel or biodiesel in one tank and then change to SVO in the other tank when the veg-oil is hot enough, and switch back to petro- or biodiesel before you stop the engine, or you'll coke up the injectors.

More information on straight vegetable oil systems in my blog.

3. Biodiesel or SVO?

Biodiesel has some clear benefits over SVO: it operates in any diesel, with no conversion or adjustments to the engine or the fuel system-- simply put it in and go. It likewise has much better cold-weather residential or commercial properties than SVO (however not as excellent as petro-diesel-- see Using biodiesel in winter). Unlike SVO,

it's backed by numerous long-term tests in lots of countries, consisting of millions of miles on the road.

Biodiesel is a clean, safe, ready-to-use, alternative fuel, whereas it's fair to say that numerous SVO systems are still speculative and need additional advancement.

On the other hand, biodiesel can be more costly, depending how much you make, what you make it from and whether you're comparing it with new oil or used oil (and depending on where you live). And unlike SVO, it has to be processed initially.

But the large and rapidly growing worldwide band of homebrewers don't mind-- they make a supply every week or when a month and quickly get used to it. Many have actually been doing it for years.

Anyway you have to process SVO too, particularly WVO (waste veggie oil, utilized, cooked), which lots of people with SVO systems use because it's inexpensive or free for the taking. With WVO food particles and pollutants and water must be removed, and it probably should be deacidified too. Biodieselers state, "If I'm going to have to do all that I may as well make biodiesel rather." But SVO types belittle that-- it's much less processing than making biodiesel, they state. To each his own.