Biodiesel vs. Vegetable Oil
There is a lot of confusion between biodiesel and vegetable oil. There is a difference. Here’s the basis explanation.
Biodiesel, in human terms is diesel fuel that is made from vegetable oil. It is ‘bio’ based rather than petroleum. The biodiesel that you find at gas stations range from B10-B99. Example: B20 is 20% biodiesel and 80% Petroleum. For a more technical definition visit Biodiesel.org.
My 1982 Benz is converted to run off waste vegetable oil (WVO) or Straight Vegetable Oil (SVO). Waste vegetable is more difficult to obtain. They are found in the oil bins in the back of restaurants. Straight Vegetable Oil, can be found at Smart and Final, Costco, and your local super market. Just buy a bottle of veggie oil and pour it in the tank.
how much is svo running at Costco? i haven’t had a membership for a couple of years.
DanR said this on June 18, 2008 at 10:00 pm
The last time I checked it was around 20 bucks. It’s rising constantly though. I haven’t bought SVO for a long time. Sometimes, I’ll run some fresh oil to clean out the system. Speaking of oil, I gotta fill right now.
austinchu said this on June 19, 2008 at 2:21 pm
The main thing with doing biodiesel at home is to secure the WVO. That and always filter and wash the oil. Make it nice and clean. I build biodiesel processors which turn waste vegetable oil into biodiesel. It is really amazing how simple the process is, as well as saving the customer $2-3 per gallon at the pumps. Algae biodiesel looks even more promising. Nothing better than recycling at its finest.
Biodiesel Processor said this on September 29, 2008 at 12:53 am