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BioDiesel

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Drluvv

Expert Expediter
I was watching "Trucks" on Spike TV and that episode showed how one could make his/her own biodiesel in their garage and it was perfectly legal. Freedome Fuel America makes a fully assembled kit that you can order and install in your home. But what had me puzzled was, what if I ordered the kit, made my own biodiesel and put it in my expediter truck, how would I pay the tax on that fuel. Second could I get in trouble by not paying tax on my home brew fuel? I'm really thinking about buying this fuel kit, they said that once you break down the price of what you'll need Vegtable Oil-Free, Methanol-$2+/gal, and Lye-? the price of your fuel comes out to be .70 per gallon.

http://www.freedomfuelamerica.com/
 
LDB

LDB

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
The problems I see are $4000 up front and a 40 gal. a day max production. Even if someone at home keeps it running all the time and has a method to store the output how often are you home? Best case scenario is you get home with very little fuel in tanks and fill up with 125 gal. of bio vs. 125 bought wherever.

Using a straight truck as an example so it can hold that much it saves maybe $200 tops so it takes at least 20 times to recover the original outlay. Add in the cost of input materials and that's a few more times. If you are a hard runner it will be a couple years at least just to recover that initial outlay.

If you don't have anyone making it for you it will take even longer since you may not get to fill the tanks if it's a quick run home. There's also the surprise runs home where you arrive with a lot of fuel because you didn't know you were going to get home until after filling up.

It may be a good thing but I'd think it would have to travel along to really be worthwhile.

Leo
truck 4958

Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.
 
G

guest

Guest
Don't even think about brewing your own biodiesel for a big truck that runs a lot of miles. Home brewing biodiesel is strictly for diesel car owners who commute to work. With that said, I am a huge fan of biodiesel and buy the 20% blend any time I can. It's fascinating stuff--it burns cleaner, smells better, clears the crud out of your tank and fuel lines, quiets your engine down and doesn't come from the Middle East (you DO NOT get better mileage with it, though, and don't let anyone convince you that you will; mileage is about the same). I have thought about every kind of scenario, though, for running home brew biodiesel even in my Dodge Ram diesel and it's just not an efficient use of time to brew small batches. The people who do it do it more as a hobby or they don't drive a lot of miles and get a kick out of being self-sufficient.

This is a good website for biodiesel information, including places to buy 80/20 blends at the pump:

http://www.biodiesel.org/#

Don't worry, an 80/20 blend will not harm your engine in any way.
 
V

vernon946

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
About the tax question, biodeisel is a fuel additive that just happens to burn like diesel, plus it is a great cleaner and lubricant for your fuel system.

Biodeisel production at home is best carried out by someone with a dedicated run that brings then home every day (Go Raceman!).

You can spend $4000 for one of these setups, or you can assemble the system with off-the-shelf parts by following some of the directions available on the internet. This would work good for expeditors if groups formed a cooperative who live in the same area and can share the work and storage and pumping chores. The optimum blend seems to be about 20/80, called B20.

If you travel I81 in VA, most of the Liberty diesel stations have B2 biodiesel, although few have it marked on the pumps.

Vernon in C2197
 
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Broompilot

Veteran Expediter
First I have ever heard of either, not paying Tax on Diesel Fuel seems like a big bunch of trouble that none of us need. Of all of the problems one could get himself into this is one that the governement takes more serious than anything illegal we could get ourselves into.

Checkpoints for Fuel Tax? Ive been checked have you? I choose to stay legal, lets see you would have your State, Fed, IRS all to contend to. Id like to see A Teams response on this I am sure they have reserached or would enjoy doing so.

In buying it at Liberty remember they are paying the tax so that I am sure is legal. Thanks for the info I will give them a try "Liberty"
 
G

guest

Guest
We will be seeing a lot more biodiesel blends at the pump soon. Last year's tax bill had a provision in it to reduce fuel taxes on biodiesel blends enough to permit retailers to sell blends for the same price as straight diesel. The current price of 100% biodiesel is around $2.75 a gallon, so this price equalization provision should give the biodiesel industry a needed boost, and just in time for the crop of diesel vehicles that are likely to hit the market in the next couple of years.
 
D

Drluvv

Expert Expediter
I love the responses guys, the info posted has given me something new to think about. I'm pondering if I should sell my '00 gas guzzling Suberban and buy a diesel Excursion instead? The way I see it, my Suberban has a 40 gallon tank, and at $2.12 a gallon(Regular Unleaded) thats $86.00 to fill up the tank per week. In one month I'll spend $344 and in a year thats $4128 on gas. If I bought one of those Biodiesel kits, it would pay for itself in a year and then I won't have think about spending $3.00 a gallon by the end of the year. Broompilot is right, I don't want to have anything to do with Uncle Sam and the Feds knocking at my door so if I do decide to take the plunge and invest my hard earned money into fuel making, it would be a hobby and for a vehicle I plan on driving locally and not OTR.
 
G

guest

Guest
Remember your time presumably has value as well. The cheapest I have ever seen biodiesel ingredients is about 70 cents a gallon, and that doesn't include the cost of the equipment, and then if you value your time at, say, minimum wage, that probably puts your cost per gallon somewhere over a $1.00 per gallon, plus the upfront cost of the equipment. I just haven't seen how it could be cost effective unless you didn't have anything else to do with your time, in which case it's a neat hobby. I'm not being negative, though. In fact, I am frustrated that I can't seem to figure out a way to do homebrew that makes economic sense.

Another neat thing about it is that its combustion point is something like 300 degrees, so you could literally put a fire out by throwing biodiesel on it. It would be much safer in an accident. It's also biodegradeable, so if you spill some on the ground, it doesn't contaminate the ground. They use the stuff to clean up beaches where oil spills wash up.
 
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