Biodiesel production ranges from factory output to home brew

Many consumers are looking into new ways to power their lives these days and get off the big oil treadmill. They are looking for cleaner and less environmentally impactful fules to run their machinery, cars and trucks on each day. One of the emerging fules that has many folks changing over is biodiesel.

Biodiesel is gaining large amount of corporate attention each year but there are many who are goin their own route to make and fule their cars. One actress who is big into green issues has converted her old gas guzzler into a biodiesel fuled machine. She gets her supply from a local former military facility close to her house. [I won’t name drop here as she likes her privacy]

I ran across this today about a home brew operation that is fueling a fleet of buses in Sothern California.

“Maurice Vanegas doesn’t use banana peels and trash to make fuel like Michael J. Fox did in “Back to the Future,” but his recipe isn’t far off.

The operator of a fleet of buses uses a mixture of soybean and vegetable oil to make biodiesel, which can be used to power diesel vehicles but does not contain petroleum.

“Every gallon I can make is one less gallon that we have to get from unfriendly countries,” said Vanegas, 37, owner of Transit Systems Unlimited.

By manufacturing the transparent, lemon-color fluid himself, Vanegas has tapped into a blossoming industry.

Biodiesel is the nation’s fastest-growing alternative fuel in the country, according to the National Biodiesel Board, a trade association based in Missouri. ”

There are some down sides to making it yourself. The process does create some by products that are useful for others in manufacturing cosmetics and candles but you have to find a buyer and you have to store the glycerin compounds. Safety is paramount too as the elements of the mixture can be dangerous inf not handled properly.

Read more about this biodiesel home brew solution