Diesel prices of more than £1 per litre are prompting many people to look at alternative sources of fuel for their transport. Viewers of Fifth Gear on Channel 5 may recall that they successfully drove the width of the UK in a diesel car fuelled by chip fat. (See the attached youtube video).

Since the UK law changed in July 2007 it is now legal for anyone to make up to 2,500 litres of biodiesel without paying any tax. This would be enough fuel to run an average family car for a year.

It is possible for the average DIY enthusiast to setup a system at home to process used cooking oil into usable fuel that will not clog the fuel filter with food waste. Refining used cooking oil requires settling and filtering before it can be used by a diesel engine. There are now home biofuel processing units, such as the FuelPod2, which will produce biofuel from home waste cooking oil.

The makers of the FuelPod2 say that the fuel produced is good enough to run any standard diesel engined vehicle without requiring any modifications. The only challenge, they say, is to find enough waste cooking oil to process into diesel. But if you run a fast food restaurant or take away then investing in one of these units could be a way to save money and a lot of waste cooking oil from going to landfill. If you don’t run a fish and chip shop or use quantities of cooking oil it may be worth making friends with someone who does.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZX2BRdXkzA

If you missed it, here is Fifth Gear driving an old Mercedes across the UK fuelled with chip fat.

Posted on February 8th, 2008 under Car and Van Info, TV Excerpts.