22 replies to this topic

[dconklin]

There is a conversion kit for diesel engines that will convert it to run on used vegetable oil.  I know the kit is quite expensive and I am sure that paying somebody to do this for you will be quite costly too.

Is it really much better to run these cars off of used vegetable oil? I mean I know that you are re-using the oil, but is it ok for the environment to run this in a car?

[zararina]

I think it is better for the environment as I had read that there is less smoke emission when using vegetable or cooking oil than diesel or fuel. And of course, instead of just dumping vegetable oils, it is reused so it means less waste as it could  also be a toxic on rivers or water sources. IMO

[meowcow]

Replacing diesel for vegetable oil surely works. Unfortunately I don't think it will catch on as fast as we would want to, because like you said it takes some effort to convert the cars and also gas stations as well. I watched a program on TV where there is a gas station in the United States that operates and sells purely green energy products, and I remembered being saddened that it was just one out of the hundreds and thousands of gas stations on Earth, and that we would have to wait for a long time for it to catch on. I'm just hopeful that I will get to see it in my lifetime.

[dconklin]

zararina, on 03 July 2012 - 12:56 AM, said:

I think it is better for the environment as I had read that there is less smoke emission when using vegetable or cooking oil than diesel or fuel. And of course, instead of just dumping vegetable oils, it is reused so it means less waste as it could  also be a toxic on rivers or water sources. IMO

I thought it would be better, but didn't know much about the burning of it.  Glad to get some feedback! My Dad was thinking of converting his diesel over to the oil.  Didn't think it could be too bad since we do use the oil to cook lol

I have heard controversy over it, but not sure why people made a big fuss about it.

[dconklin]

meowcow, on 03 July 2012 - 08:00 AM, said:

Replacing diesel for vegetable oil surely works. Unfortunately I don't think it will catch on as fast as we would want to, because like you said it takes some effort to convert the cars and also gas stations as well. I watched a program on TV where there is a gas station in the United States that operates and sells purely green energy products, and I remembered being saddened that it was just one out of the hundreds and thousands of gas stations on Earth, and that we would have to wait for a long time for it to catch on. I'm just hopeful that I will get to see it in my lifetime.

Being that you would be using used oil, you could probably get it from restaurants.  The biggest problem I see right now is how much it costs to convert it over.  That was the main reason why my Dad hasn't converted yet.  He said the conversion kit is quite expensive, a few thousand dollars.

[still learning]

Is the used vegetable oil available?
Or already being used?   http://dogpatchbiofuels.com/

[dconklin]

still learning, on 03 July 2012 - 05:51 PM, said:

Is the used vegetable oil available?
Or already being used?   http://dogpatchbiofuels.com/

I will have to ask my Dad more about it, but I am pretty sure he said with a conversion kit that you can just use the vegetable from a restaurant or your house.  I am sure you will just want to filter out any food pieces left behind.  It should be noted that my Dad has worked on cars for 45 years, so it is possible he would be modifying it to do this.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

This article from 2004 explains some of the details.
http://www.prattsinn...grease_car.html
This link is a bit spammy but it has a lot of answers for frequently asked questions. (Trucks, cars, boats)
http://www.diesel-th...ble-oil-kit.htm

[dconklin]

Shortpoet-GTD, on 04 July 2012 - 03:03 AM, said:

This article from 2004 explains some of the details.
http://www.prattsinn...grease_car.html
This link is a bit spammy but it has a lot of answers for frequently asked questions. (Trucks, cars, boats)
http://www.diesel-th...ble-oil-kit.htm

Thank you :) He said that he would be using straight used oil, I was pretty sure he said it didn't need biodiesel.  He really wants to do it and part of it is to accomplish the change (my dad is a wise and determined person who does things because he can) and he also likes that it is much cleaner then the diesel fuel.

I must have had a senior moment, I thought I started a conversation a week or so ago and I did a search and couldn't find it before I started this one.  Now I found it in another topic lol! Sorry for the similar conversations and the senior moment I was having

[milano]

I have read somewhere that diesel engines can directly run processed vegetable/cooking oil. Using vegetable/cooking oil is great if you can get a steady supply of it. If you know food establishments that will readily give you their used cooking oil, then you can virtually run your car without buying fuel forever.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

milano, on 04 July 2012 - 11:40 PM, said:

I have read somewhere that diesel engines can directly run processed vegetable/cooking oil.

Links listed above.

milano, on 04 July 2012 - 11:40 PM, said:

If you know food establishments that will readily give you their used cooking oil, then you can virtually run your car without buying fuel forever.

Good luck with that.
Restaurant owners have wised up to the fact and finding free grease is like finding chicken teeth.

[energy_expert]

Here's a cool story about someone who converted their '84 Benz to run on Vegetable oil!
http://www.popsci.co.../taking-chances

[dconklin]

Shortpoet-GTD, on 05 July 2012 - 05:05 AM, said:

Links listed above.

Good luck with that.
Restaurant owners have wised up to the fact and finding free grease is like finding chicken teeth.

Dad lives in an area where there are more horse and buggies then cars.  I am sure these restaurants (what few there are out there) would just be happy for the oil to disappear lol

[Julie]

In Brighton in the UK there is a firm which collects oil from restaurants, cleans it a sells it on to owners of diesel cars. Their own vans are fuelled by oil and they also deliver fresh oil to the restaurants at the same time as collecting old oil which saves on the carbon footprint costs of the restaurants.

[dconklin]

Julie, on 14 July 2012 - 08:33 AM, said:

In Brighton in the UK there is a firm which collects oil from restaurants, cleans it a sells it on to owners of diesel cars. Their own vans are fuelled by oil and they also deliver fresh oil to the restaurants at the same time as collecting old oil which saves on the carbon footprint costs of the restaurants.

That is great! That is a nice service and I am sure it makes the restaurants quite happy too.  They don't have to worry about oil, whether getting fresh or getting rid of the old.

[artistry]

This will be interesting to see how fast it all takes off. I think it was in Canada where a taxi cab company has been doing this for a good while. The restaurants are happy to supply what was going to be tossed. I think they give the restaurants some compensation, which still saves them a lot of cash.

[dconklin]

I briefly in my half asleep state of mind last night heard something about people trying to steal used oil now.  Anybody else hear this? I was literally in and out of sleep land so I don't remember everything they said about it.

[Sandra Piddock]

Julie, on 14 July 2012 - 08:33 AM, said:

In Brighton in the UK there is a firm which collects oil from restaurants, cleans it a sells it on to owners of diesel cars. Their own vans are fuelled by oil and they also deliver fresh oil to the restaurants at the same time as collecting old oil which saves on the carbon footprint costs of the restaurants.

I think it will take a long time for this to spread, although it's a great initiative. The gas companies are not going to be happy about their reduced profits, and some people will have a hard time getting past the fact that they're running their prized motor in used chip frying oil. I'm more concerned about the overall cost and performance, so as long as I could run my vehicles efficiently on it, I'd go for it.

[dconklin]

Sandra Piddock, on 16 July 2012 - 01:40 AM, said:

I think it will take a long time for this to spread, although it's a great initiative. The gas companies are not going to be happy about their reduced profits, and some people will have a hard time getting past the fact that they're running their prized motor in used chip frying oil. I'm more concerned about the overall cost and performance, so as long as I could run my vehicles efficiently on it, I'd go for it.

The only thing that would be a bit more costly at the moment is the conversion kit for the diesel to run on oil.  If they found a way to reduce the cost of converting, I am sure there would be a lot more diesels doing this.  Diesel fuel is quite expensive now! From what I understand it gets better MPG then diesel and then it runs a lot cleaner too.

[johnygreen]

I think using vegetable oils as fuel in our vehicles is not bad. It would be beneficial for us in many kinds:

If we also use this vegetable oil then we can save lots of petrol and diesel which can be sustained for future for more important purpose, as we know that petroleum is depleting very fast.

I have also seen many a times that vegetable oils spoils due to over production and dumping so if we use this then it will be utilized as well.

Off couse it will produce much less smoke.