Action Briefing Apr 2003 - May 2003
	The Newsletter of Birmingham Friends of the Earth

Oil Aboard!

With the help of Birmingham Friends of the Earth, I have recently converted my diesel car to run on straight vegetable oil which should over the remaining life of the vehicle result in savings both financially and to the environment.

Vegetable oil is far less polluting, and when it burns the carbon it releases into the atmosphere was “trapped” just a year or two before when the crop grew - compared with petrodiesel, where the carbon being released now has been in storage for millions of years.

There are several methods of running on vegi oil. Firstly, you can convert the oil into biodiesel, or mix it with petrodiesel. In Italy some buses use 20% bio as it reduces engine wear. Another method is to just put straight vegi oil in and go! It actually works. However, the viscosity of veg oil means it needs to get hot to thin it out. In a hot summer, no problem. For the rest of the year you can mix a percentage with diesel depending on the temperature. NOTE: this could damage your engine depending on several of factors, something you should look into.

The next method is the two tank system, one for diesel one for veg oil. You start on diesel and when the engine is hot you switch to vegi oil which has been heated by the radiator water. Lots of people like this system, but I converted to run on straight heated vegi oil. With help from FoE I purchased a home conversion from Elsbett in Germany. An electric heater warms the vegi oil to start off and this switches off as soon as the radiator water is hot enough. The kit cost £500 - pricey when you consider that the parts are worth around £150 max. What you do pay for are the parts you can't buy in the shops i.e. the injector inserts, a relay (which had its technical information scratched off!) as well as Elsbett's know-how. But in terms of savings on fuel, the system pays for itself within 6000 miles. The kit took 4 days part time to assemble, but luckily a free helpline number is supplied too.

It feels great to run on veg oil. Maybe it's the cash or eco saving, or maybe its knowing you are not giving the petrol giants any more of your money!

Robin Gregory