Consumer Reports Tests Diesel/BioDiesel/Cooking Oil

[Delta4Embassy]

Diesel vs. Biodiesel vs. Vegetable Oil Homegrown Fuels - Consumer Reports

"The Jetta ran well on vegetable oil. But you have to switch to diesel before you shut the engine down every time to purge impurities from the fuel system, which is a nuisance. And if you forget and leave the switch on after shutdown, the cooking oil tank will fill with diesel fuel.

When running on cooking oil, the tailpipe exuded a familiar fried-food scent.

B100 is a fully renewable fuel and provided similar fuel economy and performance to petroleum diesel, but it typically carries a hefty price premium. For now, there is no financial incentive to use B100. Also, it is unlikely that manufactures will warranty B100 in their engines, though most will cover up to B20.

If you have access to biodiesel, running a moderate biodiesel blend in your diesel engine may provide slightly better fuel economy and acceleration than conventional diesel, while costing about the same.

Used cooking oil is another fully renewable fuel, but it's a viable alternative only for those up to the challenge. Operating a grease car requires sacrificing trunk space to an auxiliary tank, arranging your own fuel sources, picking up, filtering, and storing the fuel, starting the fuel system with regular diesel after every time you drive, and cleansing the system before shutting down."

lots more at link including emissions comparisons.

 

[MrDVS1]

Diesel vs. Biodiesel vs. Vegetable Oil Homegrown Fuels - Consumer Reports

"The Jetta ran well on vegetable oil. But you have to switch to diesel before you shut the engine down every time to purge impurities from the fuel system, which is a nuisance. And if you forget and leave the switch on after shutdown, the cooking oil tank will fill with diesel fuel.

When running on cooking oil, the tailpipe exuded a familiar fried-food scent.

B100 is a fully renewable fuel and provided similar fuel economy and performance to petroleum diesel, but it typically carries a hefty price premium. For now, there is no financial incentive to use B100. Also, it is unlikely that manufactures will warranty B100 in their engines, though most will cover up to B20.

If you have access to biodiesel, running a moderate biodiesel blend in your diesel engine may provide slightly better fuel economy and acceleration than conventional diesel, while costing about the same.

Used cooking oil is another fully renewable fuel, but it's a viable alternative only for those up to the challenge. Operating a grease car requires sacrificing trunk space to an auxiliary tank, arranging your own fuel sources, picking up, filtering, and storing the fuel, starting the fuel system with regular diesel after every time you drive, and cleansing the system before shutting down."

lots more at link including emissions comparisons.

Hardly new information, getting rid of impurities isn't the real reason to shut off on diesel, diesel has a lower flash point than cooking oil, which if everyone were using it would be in short supply in no time at all.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Diesel vs. Biodiesel vs. Vegetable Oil Homegrown Fuels - Consumer Reports

"The Jetta ran well on vegetable oil. But you have to switch to diesel before you shut the engine down every time to purge impurities from the fuel system, which is a nuisance. And if you forget and leave the switch on after shutdown, the cooking oil tank will fill with diesel fuel.

When running on cooking oil, the tailpipe exuded a familiar fried-food scent.

B100 is a fully renewable fuel and provided similar fuel economy and performance to petroleum diesel, but it typically carries a hefty price premium. For now, there is no financial incentive to use B100. Also, it is unlikely that manufactures will warranty B100 in their engines, though most will cover up to B20.

If you have access to biodiesel, running a moderate biodiesel blend in your diesel engine may provide slightly better fuel economy and acceleration than conventional diesel, while costing about the same.

Used cooking oil is another fully renewable fuel, but it's a viable alternative only for those up to the challenge. Operating a grease car requires sacrificing trunk space to an auxiliary tank, arranging your own fuel sources, picking up, filtering, and storing the fuel, starting the fuel system with regular diesel after every time you drive, and cleansing the system before shutting down."

lots more at link including emissions comparisons.

Hardly new information, getting rid of impurities isn't the real reason to shut off on diesel, diesel has a lower flash point than cooking oil, which if everyone were using it would be in short supply in no time at all.

Economic benefit, if any, would diminish too once makers realized what cooking oil is being used for. As the article mentioned, some restaurants who previously threw their's away are selling it now already noticing the economic advantage doing so.

But there's a marked uptick in 'do it yourself' mentality in the US. Seems that'd carry over into using cooking oil for fuel. Lotta survival-oriented shows of late I've noticed. Alt fuels seems to go with that.