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. Make a concerted effort to keep this New Year's resolution for a change! 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 not as complicated as you might think. In short, you need to engage a process called transesterification. You need to take vegetable or animal oils and fats, also known as triglycerides and extract the glycerine. A catalyst, which in this case is lye, helps to combine the remaining fatty acids to create the biodiesel.

You don't have to spend a small fortune to set up a system allowing you to make biodiesel. 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. At the least, you could make biodiesel fuel for the vehicles of your family and help to save money from your monthly 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. Although it is derived from a fossil fuel and thus contributory to global warming problems, it’s used in much lower quantities. Should you rely on petroleum or petro diesel, you will definitely be making a difference in emission terms. Don't forget to protect the catalyst from the atmosphere as it can absorb moisture quickly. Pick up caustic soda or potassium hydroxide and don't breathe any fumes or get the mixture on your skin.

To start off with you can select over-the-counter canola oil or even sunflower oil. Add to your list a blender, receptacles, an accurate scale, a certain type of container (#2 designation), a couple of funnels, a large bottle to use for settling, a thermometer and a bottle to be used for washing the mixture.

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?

It's entirely possible that making biodiesel may be a new concept to you. Maybe you will have seen one of those soy powered buses around the place, peaking your interest, or you might just be fed up with those horrible prices at the petrol station. Have you calculated the size of your carbon footprint yet? We're all stopping to think about how we contribute to an overall problem of global warming and as we see the politicians treading water, we're considering what we can do to push.

Some people think that they cannot make biodiesel fuel cost effectively or safely, but they are incorrect. Many thousands of people do this and use the fuel that they manufacture to get back and forth to work each day and live their lives normally. So long as you have a modicum of common sense and take some time to understand the process, you will be able to proceed perfectly well. However, all the materials that you need are readily available and you do not need a degree in chemistry to help you to get through it!

It's essential to remember that you should beware of using any overly simplistic advice or a simply written ‘how to,’ like this one that follows, and before actually attempting to make biodiesel, you'll need to have exacting information of the process itself and all safety requirements:

Making homemade biodiesel involves a process known as transesterification. You will be using a catalyst (lye) to remove glycerine from vegetable or animal oils or fats and you will effectively be extracting the oil that you can use in your diesel engine.

The catalyst you need is basically potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide, also known as caustic soda and you also need methanol. Note that you will need to keep the lye and the methanol in water tight containers and you should be aiming to use as pure a product as you can.

Take a sturdy plastic container, insert 200 mL of methanol and add the caustic soda. All containers, including the plastic bottle should be tightly closed. Ensure that everything is dissolved by shaking the container vigorously.

Preheat the soy or vegetable oil to about 130°F and pour it into a blender. Add the mixture, close and blend for 30 minutes. The resulting mixture should be decanted into a large and strong bottle with a tight lid. After 24 hours of settling, the glycerine, which is the darker colour, is settled on the bottom. When this is the case, extract the biodiesel, essentially the top layer into a clean jar, being careful not to get any of the glycerine layer mixed in.

Next you will need to wash your resultant mixture to remove the remaining imperfections by adding clean water, then letting it settle for about four hours or so, and finally allowing the water to drain through a hole in the bottom of your container that you will have made earlier on.

If everything is not clear, repeat the process, but when you are happy with the clarity, the water will have evaporated and you will have your first version of biodiesel fuel. Now that you know that making biodiesel is possible, look into finding more detailed information on the process and get some essential safety advice, before you begin!

As the automotive industry becomes more sustainable and moves toward better fuel mileage efficiencies, longer-lasting engines and a significant reduction in carbon emissions, manufacturers have also been paying attention to improvements in diesel engines. As such, conventional petrol diesel now has an alternative low sulfur option and this is definitely of interest to those who want to use biodiesel in their vehicles.

Equipment manufacturers are now making diesel engine motors that can accept either biodiesel or low sulfur. We know that some blends of biodiesel can react with certain types of rubber compounds over time, most especially in older engines, but as better rubber compounds are developed, this problem is becoming less apparent. Indeed, if biodiesel is used in lower blends and not “neat,” any issues appear to be negligible.

Mistakenly, some consumers think that if they use biodiesel they will negate the manufacturer warranty. This is completely incorrect, as the diesel engined vehicle manufacturers all support the use of biodiesel. The US Environmental Protection Agency certifies biodiesel as the only alternative fuel so far and manufacturers are sitting up and taking notice of its potential. Auto industry chiefs can see the trend toward regulation emerging on Capitol Hill and know that they are going to have to produce vehicles with better performance characteristics and long term sustainability.

More than 50% of all vehicles in Europe have diesel engines. This is more than a 10 times higher ratio than found in the USA, but we can see that more manufacturers are now planning to import and produce vehicles with diesel engines in this country as the trend toward smaller and more economical continues.

Over a decade, interest in biodiesel has increased considerably in the USA. It is said that more than 700,000,000 gallons are produced per year, comparing to just 1 million back in 1999. This industry is likely to grow significantly as we go forward. Across the country, 14 organisations have multimillion dollar manufacturing operations, but there are hundreds of fledgling and micro operations elsewhere.

Not surprisingly, making biodiesel commercially is an option that many are considering, in some cases moving up from homemade biodiesel production, supplying neighbours and friends in the locality as they start a business. Commercial production of biodiesel fuel requires certification by the EPA, while there are certain incentives and grants also available to help.

If you are not sure and pondering whether the adoption of biodiesel as your fuel of choice would be a good idea, just consider the advances of the trend toward sustainability. Heavyweight legislation is currently under discussion in Congress and if enacted will force major consumers of energy and emitters of greenhouse gases to cut back considerably. As this trend continues, consumers will increasingly demand that organisations and individuals become more sustainable and show evidence that they are complying; biodiesel fuel is ideally placed to contribute. If you're interested in helping the environment, and are looking for a way help others do the same, getting invovled with the production of biodiesel fuel is a great way to start!