Making Biodiesel

[keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.)]

Okay, so yeah... as a planet were pretty much out of oil. Pretty soon thats probably gonna cause a huge ripple effect. Like rising gas prices, rising food prices, etc..

Recently I've been trying to learn about renewable energies. Solar is a good one, and i'm an advocate that it would great for a solar-powered-tractor, or even hooked up to a large bank of batteries that could serve as a charging station for an electric car. Wind power is great too.

But, for some things those are only part of the answer, and the reality is that we really need a fuel that can take the place of some of our dependence on oil. All the research i've done so far points to Biodiesel. But, the best part is, that it should be really easy to make.

here are the general steps as far as I've read:

1. Grow some sort of biomass with the goal of extracting the natural oils from that product. You can probably use switchgrass, sunflowers, maybe algae, etc.. (but, basically extract the oil). (you can also recycle the grease from fast food restaurants such as McDonalds, which might give it to you for free)

2. basically mix lye and methanol together. Then mix with the oil. It will probably change color.

3. add water and filter out the soap. Now you have biodiesel. This should work fine in any standard diesel engine. How awesome is that!

...And thats basically all the steps! The great part is that with some creativity this can be made pretty cheaply. Cheaper that gasoline if you go the Mcdonalds route, because you only have to pay for the lye and the methanol, and some container equipment. I'm thinking this will be the fuel of the future. Way better idea that trying to use corn to make ethanol-based fuels!

So, if you have diesel powered cars, generators, and tractors... You probably have an advantage if a gas crisis ever happens. Our friends in Europe probably have a huge advantage. Hybrid diesel cars are probably the way to go. I will try to post some interesting videos i found on youtube related to this below:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC9h78b2RM4
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzFEurB3ZmY
www.youtube.com/watch?v=itksGk436x0
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vODEU2dyiIA
www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7L9pYwnWRg

and here's a great documentary on Youtube:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3CBOdgBlk8

[Joseph Lofthouse]

Canola seems to be the highest yielding oil producing plant that I can grow in my climate (hazel is iffy for me, palm is totally unsuitable, algae is still a thought experiment). Canola produces around 100 gallons of oil per acre. I would have to grow around 7 acres to support my typical driving habits.

The usa consumes around 140 billion gallons of oil per year, so it would take around 2 million square miles to produce enough oil to replace our existing fossil fuel with renewable fuel. The land area of the usa is around 3.8 million square miles.

Around here all available frying oil is already being collected for recycling either as animal food or for bio-diesel.

For one family bio-diesel is reasonable.

My personal strategy towards oil is that I am not going to drive any more... I am going to be comfortable and happy in my village, and if people want my vegetables they can come to my farm to get them.

[Jim]

we are nowhere close to out of oil.

[garnetmoth]

While we may not be "out" of oil Jim, what happens when the US with its inefficient cars, and Europe with more steady population and more efficient cars, and China with a slowly growing population but massive gains in personal wealth like we had as we became a First World nation all tap in? When exponential growth meets finite supply, something will give.

[synergy]

And I know that most people are not on board with this thought but I believe conservation of fuel and all resources as much as possible will not only be lighter on our pockets but better for our planet and overall survival . I know, that makes me a bad consumer...

[mnjrutherford]

Fortunately, we in the forum, are not most people. Eliminating the use of fossil fuel is a goal I'm straining for. In fact, depending on how much we get from our insurance settlement, I'm thinking of investing a chunk into solar power somehow. Like maybe powering the "big" things, heater/AC, fridge, & freezer? Roof shingles? Must investigate! I also want to put porches along the front and back of the house so that there is a barrier between the house and the outside air. That will do wonders to help keep the inside temperature more stable.

[reubent]

actually, burning fuel for energy in an internal combustion device was rendered obsolete almost as soon as it was invented, 1890 saw the invention of the alternative. But such is the power of money, it got put under suppression very fast. The guys pumping oil saw a threat to their wealth in every alternative that came along, and down went all of them. Most of the alternative energy technology that's been invented has been collected at free-energy-info.co.uk
and if you put the name "donald l smith" into youtube, you'll see where he made a presentation at a tesla symposium, he demonstrates there some of what he had done along that line.

[mnjrutherford]

Thanks for posting that website Reubent. There's a lot of interesting stuff there. Some of it I've heard of and to a slight degree, understand. Tell me something, of all the items on that page is there one or two projects that could be done "right now" with absolute confidence? I'm not trying to be facetious. But the sooner I can get my family off the gas/electricity habit, the better. I have most of the materials needed to make our first solar panel(s). We just have to get the shop in order so we can work in it efficiently.