Waste Vegetable Oil as Fuel
Rudolf Diesel, the inventor of the diesel engine, ran his invention for the first time on peanut oil at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900. In doing so, Mr. Diesel became a pioneer of the concept of running an internal combustion engine on an organic, agricultural product. Simple supply-and-demand economics, not conspiracies, have determined the rise of fossil fuels as the dominant fuels used in the world's motorized fleet since Mr. Diesel's time; and those same simple economics are forcing another look at organic materials as fuels.
Fossil fuels aren't going away anytime soon - with newer oil finds, new technologies for recovering usable oil, and new vehicle designs that force more efficiency from today's automobiles - the prospect of "peak oil" is a concern, but not the death knell for society that some might wish to promote. However, is it time to consider the use of alternative fuel sources to gasoline or diesel fuel? The answer is obvious.
Fortunately, however, radical changes to existing cars or trucks may not be
necessary, if the alternative fuel being considered is vegetable oil.
It's not likely that one will use untainted, or "raw", straight vegetable oil
(SVO) as fuel. To be truly environmentally concious (as well as practical), one
will be seeking out waste vegetable oil (WVO). Diesel engines were actually designed, as noted earlier, to use organic (in the context of this article, "non-fossil") fuel, such as SVO
or WVO. Presently, thousands of cars, buses, and trucks have been converted to run on VO (as well as biodiesel - see below). The
engine conversion process is usually straightforward for an experienced mechanic. These converted vehicles can still run on more widely available diesel fuel, while taking advantage of VO consumption when it is available. Unfortunately, only diesel vehicles can be converted to run on VO.
Biodiesel, Vegetable Oil, and Ethanol: What's the Difference?
Biodiesel fuel consists of organic by-products such as plant oils or animal
fats, as opposed to SVO - which is only vegetative in origin. Meanwhile,
new technical processes are showing promise in creating biodiesel fuel from algae. Biodiesel differs from ethanol, which is derived from corn. In addition, ethanol is refined primarily for use in gasoline engines; while biodiesel, as the name implies, is created for use in diesel fuel engines. A chemical process, called "transesterification", is used to create the final biodiesel product. This allows any diesel vehicle to burn biodiesel without any mechanical alteration. SVO or WVO, on the other hand, require any diesel vehicles to undergo a conversion. After the conversion, a vehicle that runs on VO will still require an engine ignition with biodiesel or regular diesel fuel. Only after the vehicle engine reaches it's normal operating temperature can the vehicle then run on VO.
There has been concern that the production of biodiesel fuel is leading to problems with the world food supply. However, the National Biodiesel Board claims otherwise. According to the NBB, biodiesel can be produced from a wide variety of plant and animal by-products, including soybean oil. The use of soybeans in the production of biodiesel requires that only the oil portion of the soybean is used, allowing the "food" portion of the soybean to be used for animal or human food production. This, theoretically, creates new soybean markets and therefore increased production of the world soybean supply. There are those who might counter that this could also create pressure to increase arable agricultural land in some developing nations and therefore add stress to such environmentally sensitive lands like rainforests.
Meanwhile,
a 2008 "green jobs" report from the United Nations says this: "About
half of all present renewables jobs are found in the biofuels industry. However,
there are rising doubts about the environmental benefits and economic impacts of
at least some types of biofuels. In addition, the bulk of biofuels jobs are
found at sugarcane and palm oil plantations, where wages are low, working
conditions often extremely poor, and worker rights at least in some cases
suppressed. Many of these jobs can hardly be described as good or decent
employment." While the use of vegetable oil in automobiles can be beneficial for
the planet (and the planet's inhabitants), it is not quite as certain that
biodiesel fuel production and consumption makes the same environmental and
social sense.
Brother, Can You Spare Some Vegetable Oil?
So, you located your sweet princess of a diesel-powered chariot, you lined up your conversion expert (click here to find VO conversion businesses), and you're sure you'll enjoy the smell of fry oil emanating from your car. Now, the question is, where to get the VO itself? It's not like your local gas station has a separate pump for the stuff (fortunately or unfortunately!)
This is where things get interesting. Most fast-food restaurants - in fact, all
restaurants that feature fried foods - have fry cookers. What do fry cookers
need to function? Vegetable oil. There are a handful of companies that actually
pick up waste fry oil from restaurants, then process the stuff and resell it for
industrial use. However, if you are willing to pound the pavement (or at least
pick up the phone), you may have some luck convincing a couple of restaurants
near you that you can take their waste oil off of their hands - free of charge.
If the restaurant managers/owners learn what you are doing with their waste oil
and see your vehicle in action - they may be more agreeable to letting you take
their waste oil. While you may actually be saving the restaurants some cold,
hard, cash - their may still be some resistance to your goofing up their
"established way of doing things". You may have to do a little "selling" to get
a good list of businesses willing to let you take their waste oil on a regular basis.
Is Waste Vegetable Oil Really Free?
Well, nothing in life is free, right? Consider:
- You'll need a diesel-powered vehicle, for starters.
- You'll have to pay someone to convert your vehicle to run on VO, or at least pay for the conversion kit to do it yourself.
- There will be effort involved in lining up restaurants and/or other businesses that can give you a steady supply of waste vegetable oil.
- Once you have your waste VO, you'll need to determine if the oil is actually usable, and then filter it for use in your vehicle.
- Your vehicle will require diesel fuel or biodiesel fuel to start and then run, up until it reaches the ideal operating temperature to run on VO.
- While you'll save money by not buying gasoline, you'll have to spend money on filtration and storage equipment for your vegetable oil fuel, in addition to the money you'll spend on your vehicle's conversion.
The total number of vehicles that use vegetable oil as fuel may never amount to more than a tiny percentage of the overall international fleet. However, VO-powered vehicles can at least assist in turning a waste by-product into a beneficial fuel, using relatively simple technologies on existing vehicles.