| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| Behemoth |
Boost for biodiesel?From the Observer...Out of the frying pan and into the car for biofuel From today, motoring can be cheaper and greener, says Adrian Holliday Sunday July 1, 2007 Observer Do you want to slash your fuel bill? For some diesel car owners, it's now possible. In a quiet shift in policy, the government has relaxed the rules on using vegetable oil, which many diesel cars - including some modern models - can run on. Previously, anyone who ran a diesel car on vegetable oil was liable to pay duty, but from today - 1 July - this tax has been slashed, provided you don't use more than 2,500 litres annually. A car owner who averages 40 miles a gallon on diesel can now drive nearly 22,000 miles a year on vegetable oil before having to stump up any tax. If the driver's average is closer to 50mpg, this allowance goes up to more than 27,000 miles a year. Tempted? Some will be, especially if they run older models of diesel, which are easier to convert, though modern cars, such as the Ford Focus TDCi and VW Golf TDI, can also be adapted. Mike Lawton runs Regenatec, an Oxfordshire-based company that converts a wide range of commercial and ordinary diesel vehicles. 'Typically a fully fitted veg oil conversion will cost a bit over £1,000, including VAT,' Lawton says. 'That's for an older diesel car. For a modern version you'll need to pay around £100 extra.' And if you're handy at DIY, Regenatec is ready to sell you a 'smartveg' kit for £600, though you'll need to spend a solid weekend doing the conversion, he warns. But is a kit necessary? 'It can be very difficult to start a car from cold using veg oil, especially in winter,' he warns. 'It's too thick and gloopy; it needs to warm up. Our kit uses diesel to power the car for the first few minutes, then it automatically switches over to veg oil. You need to flush the engine through with diesel at the end of the day after using the car, but only for about 60-90 seconds.' Lawton reckons that for someone with a modern diesel averaging 45mpg and covering 15,000 miles a year, the £1,100 or so spent on a fitted conversion will pay for itself in less than 18 months. From then on - provided the government doesn't mess with the tax threshold - you've running on dirt-cheap, though planet-friendly, biofuel. Potentially, you can kiss goodbye to fuel station forecourts for ever, powering your car for free, if you're intrepid enough to use second-hand vegetable oil and are on good terms with your local pub or chippy. Chip fat, however, does need to be filtered, otherwise you could find you've got rancid pieces of old kebab or fried egg clogging up the fuel pump - fatal for your car and pocket. To do this you must register as a waste carrier with the Environment Agency - go to www.netregs.gov.uk/netregs/sectors/287956/628713/ then scroll down to Waste Carriers and Brokers Application Form. One motorist who saved himself the expense of a conversion is Kenny Tucker, who recently bought a 1989 Mercedes-Benz 190 diesel 2.5 for just £200 off eBay. Currently using a mix of Costco soya oil and Morrison's rapeseed oil to power his Benz, Tucker is planning a 3,000-mile drive across Europe this summer to publicise vegetable oil's economy and 'greenness' - provided he can persuade restaurants en route to offload their old cooking fat. 'The car is very strong. I'm averaging 40mpg. We've actually turned it into a company car; whenever we do a big trip we take the veggie Merc. It's comfy, rugged, green - and cheap,' he says. Medicinal research chemist James Jenkins, however, took something of a risk when converting his 1998 Peugeot 206 1.9 diesel in October 2004. It was a leap of faith initially as the fuel pump in his Peugeot - a Lucas unit - is not considered as robust as the Bosch units many older German cars such as VWs and Mercedes use. Nevertheless, Jenkins spent £600 on a DIY kit from Regenatec, which, with some help from the garage, took a day to fit. Since then he has covered 40,000 trouble-free miles, doing about 300 miles a week. And the best bit? The fuel cost has been almost zero, since his Pug is powered by vegetable oil from a local pub, the Fox, in Steventon, Oxfordshire. 'Getting rid of their old fat is often a problem for pubs. So as long as I'm regular and prompt, I have it free. Pubs often have to pay for it to be removed anyway.' He drains the oil into a 55-gallon drum at home, equipped with two filters. He could buy an electric pump but funnelling it in is straightforward enough. 'It's not like filling up at Tesco,' Jenkins says, 'but I'm confident of my methodology. I did a lot of research before going for it.' · www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk/forum/ www.regenatec.com; www.carbon-neutral-car.com; www.hmrc.gov.uk/briefs/excise-duty/brief4307.htm |
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| Treacodactyl |
This is what Justme posted up about and Dougal looked into a few days back. So you can use plain veg oil if your car can take it? I also thought from the previous topic you need to keep records, just in case.
I do wonder what this'll do to veg oil prices over the next few years and I also wonder if you could produce your own veg oil on a small scale. |
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| dougal |
Customs say keep records. For six years. Customs say be prepared to prove that your material meets the spec (so there has to be some analysis somewhere). And that carries the direct implication of a tax charge, and potential "penalty" if it doesn't meet the spec. With used oil you have no knowledge or control of just exactly what you are getting. And *don't* mix in *any* fossil products that have not been taxed as road fuel - like white spirit or paraffin. Customs will tell you that renders your entire brewing taxable at 47p per litre. It removes the 2,500 litres/year concession and even eligibility for the 27p/litre tax rate, hence the 47p/litre on the whole lot. Pity the newspaper didn't bother to clarify those little details... 
Important Point: Don't mess with Customs. Do *exactly* what they require, and they'll be friendly. Don't ever get on the wrong side of them. And ignorance is no defence at all. If you've ever been registered for VAT, you'll understand this point. Old Mercs are *the* vehicles with a reputation for swallowing veg oil with minimal fuss. Modern, seriously precision engineered injection systems aren't so happy. You know how sticky a chip pan gets? That gumminess is not good for injector pumps. Treacodactyl - do you remember this thread? http://forum.downsizer.net/viewtopic.php?t=7358 High pressure diesel injection pumps are *expensive* and don't take to gunge. They are not designed for veg oil. Some tolerate it better than others. "Conversions" are about switching fuels to making starting less difficult, and pre-warming the fuel to make it less viscous and 'run' through the system more freely. That's all. They are *not* about modifying the injection system to deal with the stickiness of the oil. Important point: Be careful not to mess up an engine you depend on. "Proper" biodiesel can be run in any european-market diesel car engine manufactured in the last ten years or so. It is extremely close to the fuel that the engines were designed to run. Much closer than veg oil. But older vehicles may have 'natural' rubber in the fuel system However if a vehicle will run on today's "Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel" (ULSD, "City Diesel", etc) then it shouldn't have a problem with Biodiesel. The same *cannot* be said for veg oil. Sadly. Different folk may come to different conclusions for their own vehicles. If I was running a diesel (I'm not at the moment) I'd probably be trying to research its suitability for veg oil. A cheap old merc invites fresh veg oil - a new Citroen C1 is nothing like as clearly inviting. But the C1 would love proper Biodiesel - even good homebrew biodiesel. I recognise that Biodiesel homebrewing is a very significant undertaking, and that veg oil is ostensibly simpler. But it isn't for every diesel. Be careful! Careful if homebrewing, careful with Customs and with your engine. |
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| RichardW |
I looked in to the kit to extract the oil & even the small kits are not cheap. Buy the time you have all the kit needed (land, tractor, seed drill, combine, trailer, dry storage, mill, press, filters & prob more) Its a costly option. Would need a few to club together. Oh by product of the press can be animal feed cakes. Justme |
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| Treacodactyl |
It would only be a long term project if we had spare land and already had a tractor. Clubbing together had also crossed my mind especially as there are plenty of smallholding groups that buy machinery as a group and lend it out. Something to think about. |