Soybean Biodiesel: Leaving the High Price of Fuel Behind...Forever

With the price of gas, diesel, home heating oil, sky-rocketing everyday to new highs, people all over the country are looking for a way out. Electric cars were once thought as the way to save the environment and beat the cost of gasoline, but they are so expensive, the infrastructure for them almost non-existent, that very few people can afford to save money by buying one.

Biofuels, soybean biodiesel and ethanol, have been considered for a long time as one possible alternative. They were able lower toxic emissions and cut fuel costs...as long as you could make it yourself. If you had to buy it however, you were back to the high cost of fuel problem again, as they are even more expensive to refine commercially. In addition, some required specialized modifications to the engine, adding even more expense.

Nothing seemed to "fit" quite right, until now...

The diesel engine was designed by Rudolf Diesel to run on vegetable oil. He designed that way so that farmers would always have a plentiful source of fuel for this engine. Biodiesel is the perfect fit between vegetable oil and mass produced petroleum. Soybean biodiesel is cost effective and it is environmentally friendly. It is also biodegradable and made from renewable resources. What this means is that when you use it, you are are part of the solution to the problem we all face, not a part of the proble.

Don't be confused that biodiesel is like the previous vegetable oil fuels that can only run in heavily modified engines. Biodiesel can be used 'as is" in it's basic form to power your vehicles, or any other diesel engine on the market today. What this means to you, is that you can easily make a batch at home and immediately use it for your car, your truck, to heat your home, run your business, or any other application using a diesel engine.

This is not a fly-by-night science. It has been around since 1912. Soybean biodiesel is even registered with the EPA as a legal motor fuel in the USA and Europe. This means it can be sold and distributed just like gasoline or diesel that you pump into your car now. Many car manufacturers even cover under their warranties. The problem has been, up until now, that biodiesel wasn't widely available to the average consumer. It is sold at a few select stations around the country (The USA) but if your interested in trying biodiesel, your best solution at the moment is making it yourself.

Soybean Biodiesel is surprising easy to make. All the supplies necessary are readily available. In it's most simple for you are going to mix lye, alcohol, and vegetable oil together in the correct amounts. this will produce a very useable, very high quality fuel, better than the one you are using now, in fact. Biodiesel is made through a simple chemical process called "transesterification" During the chemical process the glycerin is removed from the fat or vegetable oil. This also leaves behind "Methyl-Esters" which is the actual or chemical name for biodiesel. It also leaves behind by-products that can be used as soap and/or fertilizer. It is also completely free of sulfur and other pollutants which are damaging our environment.

Batches of biodiesel can be mixed up in small batches in your kitchen or large sizes from do-it-yourself processors and if done effectively will end up costing between seventy cents to a dollar a gallon.

See also:

• The Encyclopedia of Making Biodiesel at Home
• The "Down and Dirty" Guide to Biodiesel Processors
• The "Down and Dirty" Guide to Biodiesel Recipes
• Biodiesel Production
• soybean biodiesel
• vegetable oil fuel
• Biodiesel disadvantages
• homemade biodiesel
• soybean biodiesel
• vegetable oil fuel