vegetable oil ethics

[andycook]

article I read in paper on how vegetable oil is made - aimed at cooking and eating side of things - has put spanner in works in terms of what i saw as greeness and ethics of using veg oil instead of diesel....

Basically it stated that a lot of veg oil is part based on palm oil and other nut oils, and these are harvested in brazil and malyasia/indonesia, and large areas of rainforest are continually getting chopped down to provide land to grow the crops on for veg oil

bit of a b&gger really, but if make sure veg oil i use is based on rape seed oil, not from flattened rainforests, it wont be so bad.

[Morr]

Palm oil is what chippies generally use, but the veg oil from the supermarket AFAIK rarely contains any palm oil, as it is solid at room temperature.
Supermarket oil is usually rapeseed, unless they specify, corn or sunflower etc.

[Linda]

Although if you are really concerned about being green you should be using your WVO to make Bio diesel, using SVO or WVO still releases carbons into the air (though less than diesel)

[24Seven]

I have read some of the old threads on this subject (running a car on veg oil) do you have to pay any duty as well? if so how and how do *they* know how much you have used?

Sorry loads of questions

[da SLUG man]

i buy KP nuts and have 2 columbian virgins who tread on my nuts to extract the oil... they then roll me a cigar and all is well with the world.

[Chillitt]

if you got 2 columbian virgins then they are wasted on you...

[Morr]

Although if you are really concerned about being green you should be using your WVO to make Bio diesel, using SVO or WVO still releases carbons into the air (though less than diesel)

Burning any of these fuels will release CO / CO2 as a waste product, I'm unsure as to how great a difference these is between the carbon emissions of SVO/WVO compared to BioDiesel, but studies of both have shown that the amount of carbons released are more or less equal to the carbons consumed by the next batch of plants. Therefore, SVO, WVO & BioDiesel can all be considered "Carbon Neutral"

From a strictly environmental viewpoint, using WVO or SVO may well be better than using biodiesel, as these consume less resources to produce the fuel (ie no need for methanol/ethanol or corresponding catalyst) and do not pose the risks associated with manufacture of BioDiesel when handling the toxic ingredients. BioDiesel also requires energy input for its manufacture, ie heat and electricity, both of which are normally likely to have originated from a fossil fuel source, thus contributing to more carbon emissions.

[Linda]

Burning any of these fuels will release CO / CO2 as a waste product, I'm unsure as to how great a difference these is between the carbon emissions of SVO/WVO compared to BioDiesel, but studies of both have shown that the amount of carbons released are more or less equal to the carbons consumed by the next batch of plants. Therefore, SVO, WVO & BioDiesel can all be considered "Carbon Neutral"

From a strictly environmental viewpoint, using WVO or SVO may well be better than using biodiesel, as these consume less resources to produce the fuel (ie no need for methanol/ethanol or corresponding catalyst) and do not pose the risks associated with manufacture of BioDiesel when handling the toxic ingredients. BioDiesel also requires energy input for its manufacture, ie heat and electricity, both of which are normally likely to have originated from a fossil fuel source, thus contributing to more carbon emissions.

Morr - I have read extensively on both Bio and SVO/WVO and there is lots of stuff about the fact that the amount of carbons released being less with BIO - although there is a very vocal German group loudly dissing BIO at the moment (oh yeah - they are opening a pure plant oil factory!!)
I'll try to dig out the links to the tests run in US on Carbon releases - they are bookmarked on my work PC so no access from here.
You have a point re heat and leccy, BUT WVO needs filtering before use and this often requires heating, thus electricity. Also running SVO/WVO as straight fuel alternatives will require additional heating of the fuel in the car, additional 2nd tank (plastic or metal) etc so could be argued either way..
Either is greener than diesel though so up the veggies!!!

[Morr]

A perfect summary

Either is greener than diesel though so up the veggies!!!

I'd be interested in any links you've got showing benefits of one over the other, could well be stuff I've missed, always happy to read more, especially if it corrects any misconceptions I may have. Must of my research on the topic was done around 3 to 4 years ago, before I actually began to use it, I'm sure there's newer data available I've not yet seen.

Everyday's a school-day!

I'm certainly not in favour of promoting one over the other, happy to see any greener fuel used, and do intend to at least dabble in making some bio from the 30ish gallons of WVO currently sitting in my shed.

[da SLUG man]

what about LARD?...

[Morr]

what about LARD?...

That's animal fat innit? Not sure if you can run on it when heated, probably can.
I know Biodiesel can be made from tallow, which I think is similar to lard... not certain tho.

[da SLUG man]

That's animal fat innit? Not sure if you can run on it when heated, probably can.
I know Biodiesel can be made from tallow, which I think is similar to lard... not certain tho.

hehehe!!... i'll have to pipe off the fat from the george foreman grill!!

have to weight up the risk of a chip pan fire in the tank though!!

[TonyN]

hehehe!!... i'll have to pipe off the fat from the george foreman grill!!

have to weight up the risk of a chip pan fire in the tank though!!

Lard wouldnt be easy simply due to the fact that its solid at room temp - so thinning it enough to use as a fuel would take a lot of doing....

Also not sure I'd want to run on animal fat anyway!

[the careful driver]

Lovely Green Goo

what about LARD?...

What about slime ?

The limit I read about Vegoil, was that using rapeseed or the like, you would require a growing area the size of France to power British cars if you based your calculations on soy or corn oil.

Soy has about 200 lts / Acre / Year, or something like that. Palm Oil has 5000 lts / acre / year. Better

Slime (algae) can be continuously harvested and promises even higher returns as it is up to 50 % oil in itself.

Yup, they do currently have slime farms - Spirulina Lakes - in America.

This is all so cool and pretty new to me.

So that means, keep an eye on the rainforests, but the saviour is the slime pools which will feel on effluent and produce big quantities of oil at higher returns, they are hoping.


Once I get the coked injector thing worked out I want to to to 100% BioD and/or Vegoil if anyone has any pointers.

I just got my Surf ! Picking it up Thursday ! Am pondering which is the best converter system, Elsbett, Grease Car, .... ? if anyone has any experience ?

[BUSHWHACKER]

[QUOTE=the careful driver]What about slime ?

The limit I read about Vegoil, was that using rapeseed or the like, you would require a growing area the size of France to power British cars if you based your calculations on soy or corn oil.

Soy has about 200 lts / Acre / Year, or something like that. Palm Oil has 5000 lts / acre / year. Better

Slime (algae) can be continuously harvested and promises even higher returns as it is up to 50 % oil in itself.

Yup, they do currently have slime farms - Spirulina Lakes - in America.

This is all so cool and pretty new to me.

So that means, keep an eye on the rainforests, but the saviour is the slime pools which will feel on effluent and produce big quantities of oil at higher returns, they are hoping.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

If the African continent grew the plants needed for deisel fuel, they would earn some money to help end their poverty.



Oh, by the way, Hi newbie!