Anyone here use biodiesel in their car?

[werdnal]

We've started looking into this with the price of diesel going up and trying to be a bit greener in our lifestyle. I run a '97 turbo diesel Astra and hubby has a '93 diesel Corsa. I assume as they are the older type engines we wouldn't need any mods?

Having searched the net, there are no forecourt style suppliers in our area, so we'd need to get a tank in and have supplies delivered at home. Does anyone do this?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

[svenrufus]

Big issue with this is what is the source of the fuel.
Biodiesel can mean a number of different things.
It can be just a bit of renewably sourced stuff mixed in with conventional petroleum based diesel - as I understand it, up to 85% Petroleum derivatives is acceptable. That is better, but not much, and what are the implications of shipping/production for such a limited supply. Might even end up having a larger carbon footprint.
As for fully organic derivative based fuels, if this is from a crop that is grown specifically for the purpose, then it is taking productive agricultural land out of use, necessitating the importing of food crops from further afield, adding to the carbon footprint through foodmiles.
The only truly sustainable source of fuel is that derived from the waste products of what was already happening - your old chip fat etc. This is a product less and less available as the big players step in and by it all up. A small bus company down here in Brighton has just started up running off waste veg oil, supplied by a small co-operative called Blooming Futures, but otherwise this source of fuel is like gold dust.
It's not clear what source or sort of fuel you are after, but beware the hype. All Biodiesels are not equal, and a lot of this market is driven (opps!) by the desire to kid people into thinking that their lifestyle is fine, just the detail needs to be changed. It isn't the case. If we all chose to drive on exclusively veg oil diesel, we would have to occupy several other planets to be able to garner the solar energy required.
Good for you for thinking this way - I have too - but the reality is, if i isn;t an option for all of us, it isn't an option. Ergo, it is isn't an option.

[Mr Mag00]

i have added some to regular diesel in the past, 50% home made, using old chip fats and would like to do this myself. you do have to pay taxes on this too. Apparently most diesels will run on it with out any adverse reactions although the new cars when you discus it with the dealership they say it will invalidate your warranty. Although it is supposed to be very good for the engine as it adds to the lubrications and reduces particulate emissions.

[honeybee]

Some bio-diesel is made or would be made from slaughter house waste.. yuk and there are the issues of putting prices sky high for growing crops for diesel instead of growing affordable food crops such as in S.America. also the crops probably wouldn't be sutainably grown and just another way to make a lot of money, destroying the environment in the process, cutting down rainforest and so on.
All well and good if you can use old chip fat which would have been generated anyway.
Apparently the disgusting vats of rancid fat that come from the canteen where I work are used for make-up..nice

[m1.carson]

Hi,

The chain of pubs Weatherspoons recycle all their fat and re-cook in it, you don't just smear it on your face you eat it.

Max.

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by m1.carson

Hi,

The chain of pubs Weatherspoons recycle all their fat and re-cook in it, you don't just smear it on your face you eat it.

Max.

That's gross!! No wonder their food is cheap! There's the danger of trans-fats from over using the stuff that's really harmful to health.

[peppermint]

We put biodiesel in our car from a place in oxfordshire that makes 100% biodiesel out of chip fat. I cant help answer any questions relating to delivary as we go to the farm to buy ours. Here is a link that shows where you can buy biodiesel, maybe there is one round your area on this site that you haven't come across yet.

Biodiesel Outlets in the UK

[Varan Komodosky]

You do know you can just bung a couple of litres of cooking fat in to mix in with the diesel, don't you?
I recommend the standard cheapo vegetable oil from any supermarket. Don't go over a 10% mixture at first. Any old diesel car can handle it, no problem.
Also, if you have a Mercedes you could probably run it exclusively on veggie oil, no mods. Remember kids, the first diesel engine was designed to run on.... peanut oil.
This is a good site: DieselVeg Home - Diesel to Vegetable Oil engine conversions

[RantingSquirrel]

Originally Posted by svenrufus

Big issue with this is what is the source of the fuel.
Biodiesel can mean a number of different things.
It can be just a bit of renewably sourced stuff mixed in with conventional petroleum based diesel - as I understand it, up to 85% Petroleum derivatives is acceptable. That is better, but not much, and what are the implications of shipping/production for such a limited supply. Might even end up having a larger carbon footprint.
As for fully organic derivative based fuels, if this is from a crop that is grown specifically for the purpose, then it is taking productive agricultural land out of use, necessitating the importing of food crops from further afield, adding to the carbon footprint through foodmiles.
The only truly sustainable source of fuel is that derived from the waste products of what was already happening - your old chip fat etc. This is a product less and less available as the big players step in and by it all up. A small bus company down here in Brighton has just started up running off waste veg oil, supplied by a small co-operative called Blooming Futures, but otherwise this source of fuel is like gold dust.
It's not clear what source or sort of fuel you are after, but beware the hype. All Biodiesels are not equal, and a lot of this market is driven (opps!) by the desire to kid people into thinking that their lifestyle is fine, just the detail needs to be changed. It isn't the case. If we all chose to drive on exclusively veg oil diesel, we would have to occupy several other planets to be able to garner the solar energy required.
Good for you for thinking this way - I have too - but the reality is, if i isn;t an option for all of us, it isn't an option. Ergo, it is isn't an option.

I 100% agree, biofuels are a catch-22 unfortunately. Even though your emissions should be better, it depends where it is sourced. Luckily the government has a solution "don't count emissions from air or sea freight'. By including shipping emissions & habitat destruction etc the benefit diminishes or disappears altogether. They rely on the principle of "if you don't see it it does not happen'. Once these figures are thrown into the mix the benefits look a lot less substantial and 'lower' emissions questionable.