Biodiesel
 

HAs anyone tried running BD in a PSD? Has anyone tried making the stuff? Any info at all? Thanks

I can't wait for this stuff to catch on and be available. I know the twin cities switched their entire diesel fleet over. Have to be some fords in there...

I'd rather give my money to some farmer than the oilticks any day. Buddy of mine ran it is his 240d (mercedes) with no problems. I can't get it in my area. Cost more, for now...

A presidential initiative to switch the entire diesel fleet in one year would be awesome. Opec would crap their pants.

http://www.biodiesel.org/markets/pre/default.asp

I have used a couple of different biodiesel blends, but not B100 as yet. A couple ag co-ops in this area are using it in their "premium" diesel as a cetane additive.

I'd also like to see it more widely available - and less expensive.

I tried making it once in a cola bottle. Of course I just estimated amounts and ended up with.......glop. Yeah, you have to be a little more analytical to get it right. If fuel gets expensive, I may go whole hog and get what I need to do it right. pH meter or paper, decent scale and some glassware. The limiting cost seems to be the methanol. The trick seems to be titration so you know just how much reactant to add to get a complete reaction, and more importantly, washing the finished product.

The stuff is not commercially available here on Long Island that I know of. Somebody tell me if i'm wrong. I found a place in VT that has it that is near to my in-laws. I'd like to get a drum to blend my own B-20 or something.

As far as information, just do a search on google and you will find tons of hits.

A cool site for DIY'ers is http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel.html

Hopefully this will catch on more and become more affordable. What are people paying for this stuff at a pump?

-Shawn

Around here, the closest place is an hour away, and it is the same price as regular diesel.

Theres a place only 15 minutes from where I live. They sell B20 for 1.99 per gal. Regular diesel here in Boston is about 1.70. I havent tried the B20 yet. Now that you guys have me thinking about it I may go fill up with it tomorrow. After all its all 29 cents more. Thats only about 5 dollars more per fill up.

Steve

I ran with an alternitave energy group a few years ago, in the "Tour de soul" i was in an electric car club from NHTI, (New Hampshire Technical Institute) but Vermont tech ran there stuff on it, they actually made it and used it, from what i remember the stuff is pretty cool, the only downfall i saw was it smelt like a deep fryer going down the road, But what do you mean by b-20 and b-100? is that a grade?

from what i have gathered, i think b-20 is like diesel 2 and b-100 is like diesel1.

B20 is 20 percent oil and 80 percent diesel. And so on.

B1/B2?
 

Okay here is another FNG question from a guy who just admires all the information floating around on this forum. Can someone break down barney style for me what B1 and B2 diesal is or B100 etc. Thanks

As FOrdForever mentioned, the number in the nomenclature - B"20" - is the percentage of biodiesel in the blend. I have seen B2, B5, B20 and B100 available. This is not the same thing as the #1 or #2 used with petroleum diesel fuel.

If you want to learn more, you really should check out the BioDiesel website - www.biodiesel.org - there's lots of great information there.

Last time I checked, the B100 was selling for just under $3/gal, but it will hopefully come down as its availability and usage goes up.

I hope it becomes widely available soon. I just watched a show last night on the history channel and a guy with a Dodge claimed it nearly doubled his fuel economy, nearly 40 mpg!!! I don't know what mix he was running but I'd like to see that at my local pump soon if the price is reasonable. He also claimed over 320 hp with no mods running bio!!

There is an environmental downside to biodiesel, I think. Especially if the biodiesel is produced from a virgin oil. So, its mostly soybean oil that being used in the states to make biodiesel, and think of the large scale agri-business that surrounds soybeans (ADM and the like). This type of large scale monoculture farming wreaks havoc on the environment in the form of groundwater pollution, non-point source pollution and all the rest of the bad that goes along with it. So while biodiesel might be better as far as emissions and oil extraction go, but it may not be so good on the production end of things. I think its different with waste vegetable oil though, because at least the oil is being used two times. I mean they are producting the vegetable oil anyway, so at least that wouldn't necessarily call for the production of more crops. Sort of a 2 for 1. Better as far as profits go too, cause you can get waste oil cheap or free.

I am not sure which is the lesser of two evils. I would gather that farming is, or at least can be less detrimental to the environment than oil extraction, but I don't know. The cool thing though is that its renewable. Don't get me wrong, I think biodiesel is a great thing, but its not completely peaches & cream.

To that end, I got in touch with someone who sells in VT. He will be displaying this weekend, Sunday 2/22 at the mountain I instruct at (Okemo Mtn., Ludlow, VT). Supposed to meet up with him, and hopefully I will be driving home with some biodiesel in the tank. If anyone is local to srn VT, maybe check him out.

-Shawn

Actually, soy is a benefical crop for farmers. It is usually rotated with corn because the beans provide a source of nitrogen which corn depletes.

Also, biodiesel can be made from any type of plant oil. It just happens that there is currently a plentiful supply of soybeans.

soy bean do not provide nitrogen, as for the only plnat which can put nitrogen into the soil is a legume, it is the trace elements that make the difference.