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Originally Posted by willravel
I love the idea of exploring alternative fuels. While ethanol, biodiesel, etc. are still not as efficient as fossil fuels, they will soon have to do. What we should do is explore the possibilities of the alternates now, before it's an emergency. Ethenol currently has a 1:5 ratio of how much energy is created for how much is used to creat it, butt that could chance if we can find more efficient ways to preocess the bio material. The same is true of biodiesel (I'm thinking of getting a diesel car for just this reason). Most diesel vehicles will run pretty well on biodiesel, vegtable oil, and other biofuels with little or no modification. I have an orange tree, grape vine, lemon tree, tamato bushes, and an olive tree in my back yard. I have to wonder if it's possible for me to use the oils from the fruits of these plants to drive to work. A friend of mine gets about 30 MPG using biodiesel in his 80's Mercedes.
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Actually, biodiesel yields a much better energy output than fossil fuels do. The main reson is because they get their energy from the sun rather than us having to drill and transport it.
You're right about the fact that it does work in current diesel engines, but not to the degree of how well they work. Biodiesel actually works BETTER than petrodiesel does. The main reason for this is it burns much cleaner than petrodiesel. Biodiesel is not plagued with long hydrocarbon chains like petrodiesel is which allows the fuel to burn faster and cleaner. The particulate matter from biodiesel is MUCH less than that for petrodiesel meaning it's much better for the environment. For example, there is no nitrogen in biodiesel so no NOx compounds will be emitted (they have a huge effect on global warming). As for engine modifications, I don't remember the exact date, but I believe that diesel engines post 1997 can use biodiesel without any modifications. Before this time, the fuel will effect gaskets and hoses in the engine making them expand and leak... it's a simple matter of changing materials and doesn't cost much. Engines running biodiesel have a tendancy to unclog from previos petrodiesel uses... meaning the engine life is usually lengthened.
Your plants that you've been growing could, potentially, be used for biodiesel. However, it's much easier, and more efficient, if you simply paid a local McDonald's for their waste vegitable oil. You can find a myriad of websites that outilne and explain cheap ways of making biodiesel. If you are serious about switching to biodiesel there are also small batch processors that can be bought (they make somewhere between 20 and 70 gallons and cost somewhere between a few hundred to 20k).
In summary... this shit is the bomb.