That’s just malicious.

2) On the general point of alternative energy: Here is why I’m a skeptic: http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/12/11/tokyo-subway-stations-get-piezoelectric-floors/
First off note that the headline is absolutely false. “Energy-Generating Floors” are not going “to Power Tokyo Subways.” They are going to power ticket gates and display systems. More important, and this is typical of articles hyping alternative energy, there are no numbers, nothing about how much power will be generated or its cost. Somehow I suspect that if the system provided a net power gain (power produced vs. used in production and operation), those numbers would be in the article.

My barn (where the “refinery” is located) has a separate electric meter from my house, and we’ve never paid more than the minimum from the PUD on that meter per-month. So I suspect that in terms of electricity I’m not even making a blip. My processor is a single-element water heater and a pump. I run three other pumps at various times to move fuel around. The processor & Methanol recovery are the only electrical load situations than run for more than a few minutes at a time. The rest is just gravity and chemistry plus time. I know some BD home-brewers that don’t heat up their oil at all, just allowing for longer reaction times. Electricity is cheap here in the Pacific Northwest though. If you pressed me for a figure, I’d just have to say it was $15 a month in power. But I’d be paying that even if I never flipped a switch in the barn anyway.

I do devote several hours a week of my time to production. Collecting oil on my commute. Handling and filtering waste oil, prep for processing, etc. I derive satisfaction from it though and do not consider it a drain on my life at all. I’ve been doing it now for almost five years. I’m producing enough output (from about four waste oil sources) to run 5 cars and 1 truck. There are 2 other guys in my informal little co-op who bring me oil and help me pay for chemicals in exchange for finished BioDiesel.

I always work out arrangements and permission from the restaurants where I source my oil. In fact if there is any frustration to this process it is dealing with eateries. They change hands and turnover staff very fast. I have gained and lost many sources over the past five years. Ideally I’d love to co-op with a solid source and share output with them. That would be the ultimate win-win scenario. Unfortunately the dearth of Diesel car options in this market makes that unlikely to happen.

I don’t think that GROWING land-based crops as fuel is wise though in the long run. Algae seems to be the only logical route for large-scale bio-fuel production. For micro-scale producers like myself though, waste oil is ideal as it solves so many problems so simply.

–chuck

I’ve read stories that these companies have pulled up and the container is empty. Store owner says it was full when he put it out. Happens over and over. The company finds out what is happening and comes in right after the container is put out and adulterates the oil.

The thief takes the oil, distills it and ruins their engine.

Hope you are taking it with permission, Chuck.

Adulterating the oil is something I WOULD do, if I
contracted for it and it was being stolen.

But for a small portion of the more self-reliant folks, such as yourself, you pretty well have it made.

I’d love to see a solar panel on my roof and wind generators on my 3 acres, powering an electric car, BTW. It’s just that I suspect that’s all going to be 20-30 years in the future, at which time I’ll be retired anyway and won’t need to commute any more (at least, I hope to retire some day).

Chuck,

One question I’ve never gotten a firm answer on is whether or not it takes more energy to self-refine biodiesel than it produces as a fuel. I’ve heard it depends entirely on how you’re making it.

I’m not being facetious, I’m actually curious as to your experience because I’ve never had this question answered satisfactorily.

I’m a firm believer in the concept of personal responsibility. I’ve applied that to energy independence, so now the only gasoline I buy is for my lawn mower and my classic car. For everything else I make my own fuel. The only way that can be done is with Diesel. My car and my wife’s car are Diesels, and I collect waste veggie oil and convert it to BioDiesel. I’m recycling, carbon-neutral, buzzword compliant, and I’m paying less for fuel than my Dad did in the 1960s. If I could buy a Diesel lawn mower I would. If I could buy a Diesel car beyond a VW Jetta I would.

This process is not THAT hard. I’d bet that most of TTAC’s B&B could do it in their garage or barn. Hell, I did it and I knew NOTHING about chemistry when I started. But somehow Diesel always gets short shrift here on TTAC: “It costs more at the pump”, “Sales of Diesel are dropping in Europe”, “It doesn’t rev high enough”, “whaaaa”

Unless you’ve tried it, don’t knock it.

I’m not saying we should ALL be driving Diesel cars, but something more than the 0.01% than are on the road in the USA today would be good. Having something to choose from other than a VW Jetta would be good. Having access to all those amazing small-displacement, ultra-high MPG cars available in Europe would be fantastic! Mid-sized sedans that get 40 MPG, sub-comacts and sports cars getting 60-75 MPG. To hell with California and Ethanol… Bring Diesel on!

–chuck

Well let’s bail them all out! It’s all about jobs! Who cares if they produce unwanted and inefficient products (that hasn’t stopped the UAW).

Sounds like bailout time! I kid… (or do I?)