Waste Vegetable Oil (SVO) vs. Biodiesel

I wanted to discuss a little bit of what I am doing with restaurant's waste vegetable oil (wvo). First off, I do not convert it to biodiesel. This is a big misconception that all waste veg oil is used for biodiesel. Whereas biodiesel is often considered a sustainable fuel, since it can be made from vegetable oil, it does require the addition of methanol and other caustic chemicals, it requires processing and added energy to convert to biodiesel, and it produces waste products (glycerin) that are no longer organic and not suitable for compost. Biodiesel is also not compatible with the rubber based fuel lines and gaskets of many older vehicles. Using unprocessed oil is preferable since it requires no processing, no added chemicals and does not break down fuel lines/gaskets. It is simply filtered and added to the fuel tank. The material that is filtered out can be fed to animals or composted, being composed 100% out of food products. The downside of using unprocessed oil in this form is that it is thicker than diesel, therefore it requires heating and/or the addition of thinner fuels to burn efficiently in diesel engines. NOTE, only Diesel engines can use wvo as a fuel. Also, vehicles do not start easily with cold wvo in the fuel system, so either you need to shutdown on regular diesel (have a 2nd tank and a means to switch fuels - which is what my conversion kits do) or preheat the engine prior to starting (requiring plugging in to 120 V outlets). These obstacles are easily overcome and my main focus right now is to sell easy to install conversion kits and work with people to convert their diesel fueled vehicles to use wvo.

I want to add that whereas using waste vegetable oil as a fuel is generally considered a sustainable practice and it is carbon neutral (the carbon released during burning is offset by the carbon absorbed by the plants when growing), it is not the answer to upcoming fuel shortages. There is not enough waste vegetable oil from restaurants to provide enough fuel for but a tiny percentage of existing vehicles on the road. And displacing food crops to grow fuel crops is not a good thing. It raises food prices and results in increased deforestation and exploitation of resources (human and natural). I consider a good bridge fuel to help the transition to more sustainable fuels of the future, or more likely, to the use of less fuel in the future. It is likely that we will be able to provide significant quantities of oil from algae in the future, often taking advantage of algae growth in waste water treatment applications, but it still is unlikely that we would ever be able to displace any significant percentage of existing fossil fueled vehicles. The only solution, as is going to become strikingly clear in the future, is to power down, to use less energy and to transition back to our roots of living sustainably off the land. It is going to be a difficult transition, but I feel, as do many others, that it will be a more rewarding future. Check out http://www.transitionwhatcom.ning.com/ and go to the Great Unleashing April 10-11 to meet others that feel this way.