Biodiesel: getting about on chip fat

Worried about the fossil fuels that you pump into your car?  Ever thought about running your car on chip fat? The Wharfedale Biodiesel Group can help you. Michael Baldwin, member of Transition Ilkley and Wharfedale Biodiesel Group, provides the lowdown on what biodiesel can mean for you.

Wharfedale Biodiesel Group has been running for more than 3 years. We buy biodiesel in bulk from a commercial company in Bradford that makes biodiesel from waste vegetable oil. Generally we get quite a discount on the forecourt price of “dino-diesel”. And biodiesel can ease our transition through peak oil, as well as reduce our carbon emissions.

At the start of the motoring age, many cars ran on alternative fuels. Mr Diesel’s first engine ran on peanut oil. In recent years with rising oil prices, biofuels made a comeback - but quickly got a bad press: clearing of forests in the tropics for palm oil, land grabs, food vs fuel. But…there is at least one kind of biofuel that is environmentally sound on every count: biodiesel made from waste vegetable oil.

The recycling of waste oils has become a huge industry. Most users of veg oil, be they local chippies, schools or Walkers crisps, sell their waste oil to biodiesel companies. There is not enough waste oil to power every diesel car and lorry in the country but the important thing is to make use of every drop of waste oil rather than throwing it away. Biodiesel made from waste veg oil (not virgin oils) saves around 70% of carbon emissions when used to replace normal diesel, when all the processing and distribution are considered.

Biodiesel can also work in most diesel cars whereas straight veg oil can’t. Biodiesel is veg oil that has been chemically processed to break up the fat molecules so they are more like normal diesel. All diesel engines can run on a 5% blend of biodiesel. Biodiesel is now added to normal forecourt diesel in a blend of up to 5%.

Some diesel engines can take a higher blend of biodiesel. Some cars built before 2004 can run on 100% biodiesel. The rule of thumb is to stick with a 50% blend especially in cold weather because biodiesel can wax more easily than normal diesel. All recent Peugeot/Citroen cars are officially authorised to run on a 30% blend.

Another use of biodiesel is as an alternative to heating oil.

Feel free to contact Wharfedale Biodiesel Group if you would like to know more. Our Yahoo group is

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wharfedalebiodieselgroup