Crafting with Kids

There are so many reasons why you should consider biodiesel as part of your life and every reason why you should consider making an effort to learn how to make homemade biodiesel. Don’t ditch your New Year’s resolution already! We cannot forget how gasoline prices ran up to a terrible spike a year or so ago. Let’s try and control our lives so that we don’t remain slaves to external forces, be they individual organisations, governments or foreign countries.

While everyone else around us may appear to be selfish or consumed by their own issues, even if this is not the case, we should ensure that we individually take action to protect our planet. It’s possible for every one of us to make a difference and as we know that transportation accounts for a large chunk of carbon emissions, consider fuelling your vehicle with biodiesel or a blend of it.

Making biodiesel is a realistic option. In short, you need to engage a process called transesterification. Fundamentally, you will need animal or vegetable oils, also known as triglycerides and work to remove the glycerine. By using a catalyst, lye, you would remove fatty acids and be left with biodiesel.

A system allowing you to make bio diesel can be established at relatively low cost. Nor do you have to be a chemist or have the entire volunteer fire department on standby as you experiment! It is advised that you start out in a small way and see how you progress. It’s perfectly feasible for you to make biodiesel fuel for your vehicle and those of your family and save good amounts of money from your annual budget.

There are certain basic chemicals required when making biodiesel fuel and these include methanol. You will need virtually pure methanol for this to be effective. You might think the methanol is linked to global warming and it is in a certain way, but it’s used in very much smaller quantities. In terms of emissions, you will definitely be making a difference versus petroleum or petro diesel. The catalyst, lye, should be protected as it can absorb moisture from the atmosphere. Look for potassium hydroxide or caustic soda and remember not to breathe the fumes or get lye on your skin, due to its caustic nature.

Start your initial experiments by using regular, over-the-counter canola oil or sunflower oil. In addition to the methanol and the caustic soda you will need a blender, accurate measuring scales and receptacles, a suitably constructed container (look for the #2 designation on the underside of the container), two different funnels, a large bottle for the settling process, a separate bottle for washing and a thermometer.

Now you have everything you need to start and can begin your journey toward efficiency! With so much to gain, not only ecologically, but also financially and politically, what could be the reason - or reasons, why it’s taking such an incredibly long period of time to make this extraordinary change for the better, for all of us, not just now, but for all of the future generations which will follow as well?

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