Biofuels - Getting It

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Permalink Reply by sandra on January 29, 2008 at 10:57pm

I have no idea. On a different tangent, are biofuels even considered efficient? Obviously it's preferred over gas but there a lot of land is also required for this....

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Permalink Reply by SustainGigs on February 3, 2008 at 5:39pm

You are confusing ethanol with biodiesel. Ethanol is currently made with corn, which currently requires land to make grow the corn. Biodiesel is made from vegetable oil and many people are using the leftovers from restaurant fryers or their own kitchen use.

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan on January 30, 2008 at 3:21pm

Check out www.biodieselnow.com You can find links to people in your area making biodiesel from veggie oil they collect, places that sell biodiesel, and co-ops of folks getting together to organize biodiesel availability(I belong to one in L.A.). Making biodiesel from waste vegetable oil is converting a waste stream to a fuel source, and it has a very low carbon footprint.

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Permalink Reply by SustainGigs on February 3, 2008 at 5:37pm

Thanks Jonathan. That is an amazing resource. I have a stupid question: can I use ordinary biodiesel in any diesel car? Do I need to do anything to it?

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan on February 4, 2008 at 10:51am

Yes, you can use biodiesel in any diesel. However, biodiesel degrades some types of rubber, so you have to replace the rubber fuel lines in some models, especially in older cars. In my VW diesel, I can go back and forth between biodiesel and diesel anytime I like , and they can mix in the tank. So if I am on a trip and can't find biodiesel I put in petro diesel. The prices of used Mercedes diesels have been going up because folks are looking for them now to run either biodiesel or straight vegetable oil (some conversion is required for this).

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Permalink Reply by Alexander on May 12, 2009 at 11:03am

Ferment vegetable matter for your own bio-fuel Check out google search for "making bio fuel" with or without the space.

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