Using Biodiesel

trumpetmonkey · Post by **trumpetmonkey** » Tue Oct 14, 2008 3:32 pm

Anyone else out there using biodiesel?

After I got a VW Golf Estate Diesel I wanted to try biodiesel, to help the environment and save some money. I had plans to start making my own til I discovered a company just down the road from me in Sheffield making and selling it on a large scale.

It works well enough, no conversion needed to the car. They process used chip fat from restaurants. It's better than straight vegetable oil (SVO) which is very viscous and ideally needs the car converting to heat and thin it before it enters the engine.

If you want to know more then ask me - I know I had a lot of questions about it before I wanted to risk putting it in the car!

Hoovie · Post by **Hoovie** » Tue Oct 14, 2008 3:35 pm

if you did make your own, you could save about 50p a litre in fuel duty, so maybe worth weighing up your cost of production compared to their selling price.

Does it make you car smell like a chip shop? seems to be a common thing with that.

Raf · Post by **Raf** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 1:25 pm

a good site is vegetableoildiesel dot co . uk. some of the early guys to start with SVO and WVO. all you need to know without the sales bs added in.

price of SVO at the mo is around £1/ litre (cheapest at Asda)

dont forget to register with HMCE as a fuel producer and keep the cert in car. dont tax dodge (chip shoip smells are really obvious).... or should i say at least get registered; its self assessing so you know the score. most peeps only pay a few quid a month tax.

also biodiesel is not the same; this has about 5% content of oil and readily available at the pumps... they just seem to be calling everything with oil biodiesel nowadays.

for any real savings (if you counter in one lift pump, a few fuel filters and rubber seals that will inevitabley go) you need to start producing yourself and have a supply of WVO.

personally i hate bio as this has lead to the food price rises/shortages. oh and i heard that SVO is good at taking the red dye out of red diesel but cannot confirm.

you definatley dont get the savings you used to.

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 7:23 pm

I know someone that used to put Kerosine ( heating oil or Paraffin ) into his diesel car. he used to Just mix it with a pint of oil per 25 litres of kerosine to lubricate the oil pump.

It's half the price of diesel, but can damage injectors on some vehicles. It has virtually no emmisions and so don't take it for a MOT or they will all be scratching their heads

If you get caught you will get done for not paying tax and will have your vehicle impounded and probably get a good fine as well.

trumpetmonkey · Post by **trumpetmonkey** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 10:10 am

That kerosene idea sounds a lark, my car is on it's legs anyway!

And yeah, strictly you should pay the tax even if making your own biodiesel.

I've never noticed the chip shop smell, but when I had the fuel filter changed the mechanic said it did smell that way! (The biodiesel place - biofuels uk - recommend changing the fuel filter after a couple of tanks. They claim this is because their biodiesel is actually cleaner and flushes out carbon deposits from normal diesel into the filter.)

Raf wrote: also biodiesel is not the same; this has about 5% content of oil and readily available at the pumps... they just seem to be calling everything with oil biodiesel nowadays...

personally i hate bio as this has lead to the food price rises/shortages.

This isn't true of the kind of biodiesel I am using, which is converted from waste chip fat. It's making use of an existing waste product, not growing new crops.

Hoovie · Post by **Hoovie** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 10:28 am

And yeah, strictly you should pay the tax even if making your own biodiesel.

Not anymore ....

Revenue & Customs Brief 37/07 on Biofuels Simplification
"....A production threshold of 2,500 litres per annum below which producers will not need to enter premises, submit returns or pay duty"

Kickstart for biofuel drivers
"....Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs confirmed to Working Lunch that vegetable oil bought from retailers as fuel will be exempt from duty, as long as drivers don't exceed the 2,500 litre annual threshold."

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 3:03 pm

Hoovie wrote:And yeah, strictly you should pay the tax even if making your own biodiesel.

Not anymore ....

Revenue & Customs Brief 37/07 on Biofuels Simplification
"....A production threshold of 2,500 litres per annum below which producers will not need to enter premises, submit returns or pay duty"

Kickstart for biofuel drivers
"....Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs confirmed to Working Lunch that vegetable oil bought from retailers as fuel will be exempt from duty, as long as drivers don't exceed the 2,500 litre annual threshold."

I never knew that- very interesting

kenjewell · Post by **kenjewell** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 9:07 am

ultimatehandyman wrote:I know someone that used to put Kerosine ( heating oil or Paraffin ) into his diesel car. he used to Just mix it with a pint of oil per 25 litres of kerosine to lubricate the oil pump.

I have sucessfully run a W124 Mercedes E250D using just kerosine and rape seed oil mix without any problems. Only thing is the exhaust smells like a fish & chip shop when its running.

I wouldn’t try it on my W140 S300TD though it will probably bugger up the diesel pump.

Regards,
KJ

Raf · Post by **Raf** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 12:03 pm

mercedes swirl chamber diesels using bosch ip's are the best for this stuff...

dazid1 · Post by **dazid1** » Sat Nov 15, 2008 6:46 pm

The older the car the better it will be the modern ecu controled stuff there will be problems, the old mercs with the inline pumps could take cooking oil straight from the bottle/pan

big-all · Post by **big-all** » Sat Nov 15, 2008 9:33 pm

at 30 mpg 2500L = 317miles per week or 45 miles a day so not to be sneezed at