Im looking at replacing my everyday car with a diesel soon and am quite interested in running it on biodiesel. Especially now there is no tax on the first 2500 litres you produce / use.

I've seen a starter kit for home use which produces 40 Litres per batch (takes about 8 hours to process).

Does anyone make their own? Any tips on good places to get the oil / caustic soda / methanol.

 

When did they relax the tax laws then?

and linky links etc etc as I used to use my own

 

What Gayland said please.

 

Law changed late June I believe.

Its the greenfuels fuelpod for Ł995+vat Im interested in. Also there's a note on the home page about the law change.

http://www.greenfuels.co.uk/

 

Not bad at all that, be interesting to see what the actually product has with it as it wouldn't be too difficult to make your own.........

 

Gracey uses his own BioDiesel in his fezzy, hence the smell of the chip shop at the last meet..

 

Im also tempted, but TBH 995 seems like a LOT of money for what little you actually get in the kit.

 

That car exploded - slight over-revving of the engine going down a steep hill methinks

 

PS


Best bet is to try some in your car first of course!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Biodiesel-20L-...QQcmdZViewItem

 

Dont forget really you need something to get it from the drum with as well unless you can mount it high enough up to gravity feed it:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DRAPER-DIESEL-...QQcmdZViewItem

 

dont know much about it, but have heard its no good for performance diesels

says on the 335d filler cap strictly no-biodiesel

carl

 

VW/Audi have certified all their cars from 1996-2004 as safe to run on 100% biodiesel, so its no problem at all for my A4, although I would probably end up running it on a bit of a mix anyway.

 

most EUI cars should be fine on biodiesel of all blends up to 100%

some older common rail and pump diesels can suffer with clogging and lacquering problems

best bet is to start at 50% to see if there is a noticeable performance drop as this can cause raised fuel consumption

when first using bio change the filters, and then after a few hundred change the filters again (fuel)

the solvent nature of the fuel cleans the tabk and lines and can lead to blocked filters and a lower fuel pressure, which can damage the engine

 

Mine's just had a new fuel filters as part of a dealer service when I first got the car I think, but I was going to check that anyway, and then like you say, change it again shortly after.

Hopefully going to start running mine on biodiesel ina week or two when im off on holiday, so I will report back on it.

I do 1000 miles a week, and my fuel economy is very consistant normally during that time, so any deviation should be easy for me to spot.

If I lose anymore than about 5mpg, it wouldnt be worth the increased hassle.

 

That kit comes with the nozzle hose to fill up your car from it - I think its gravity fed rather than pump.

Apparantly the only issue with using biodiesel is if you have an old car that uses rubber fuel hoses - these need to be replaced.

From what I've read, the issues with biodiesel causing problems to engines is where its not been made properly.

As per gingeRS, you are supposed to change your fuel filter shortly after using biodiesel because of its cleaning properties.

 

id want to see proof from the government that bio diesel is duty free upto 2500 litres..

thats 41 tanks of diesel in my mondeo - i dont fill up that often!

 

As you wish

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/briefs/excise-duty/brief4307.htm

 

good luck dealing with HMRC

pain in the ass is an understatement

 

I use biodiesel in my fiesta tdci
I get around 400-420 miles to my tank.
Mainly sitting at 70 on the motorway, I do 64 miles per day.
I fill up every week , just like I used to on regular diesel.
Although my economy has dropped by around 100 miles, this could be partly to do with the 17" wheels, I am not too sure.
Performance wise is is a bit slower, but money wise, it costs me 70p per litre, averaging Ł26 per week to fill up.
This means I am saving at least Ł10 per week on fuel.
That saving is now going into my savings account .

 

you sir, are a prince amongst men

 

Technically the 2500 litres is only if you PRODUCE the fuel, not buy it.

So if you fill up at a filling station, it SHOULD be duty paid.

Unlike red diesel though, there is no way of knowing if you paid the duty or not.


So what I could do for example, if I wanted to avoid paying tax (obviously I dont wish to do this, I really do LOVE paying tax on money I got taxed on earning and my employer got taxed for giving to me) is to go to my local biodiesel place and fill up 1 container with 20L of "duty paid biodiesel"
Then fill up as many 20L containers as I can lay my hands on with "non duty paid biodiesel"

Given that all the containers are identical, and all the fuel is identical, that gives me the right to put any ONE of them in my tank, so if I ever get stopped then thats the one I just happened to have poured in that day obviously officer.

This is where it differs from red diesel, if you did the same, then the 1 tank of non duty paid would be clear and the others would be red, and hence you would be instantly spotted using the non duty paid stuff.


The government must be hoping that not many people realise this!

 

lol chip

probably worth producing it, especially if it can be made cheap!

 

I got a bollocking for putting up an advert on here but if I'm replying to a question in a thread then maybe that's OK?
I produce Biodiesel and can help you get started. I sell all the chemicals and equipment you need, all at very competitve prices ie Methanol at 80p per litre.
Brian on 01799542569 / 07974771414