Where Can I Get Biodiesel?

Many people are planning to switch over to alternative forms of fuel for their car and trucks. The global money crunch combined with the spiraling fuel prices is making its presence felt and is putting a crunch on their wallets. Most of these people have heard about biodiesel and are seriously thinking about purchasing conversion kits that will permit them to run their car on biodiesel.

However, most of them have a question. They want to know more about biodiesel fuel stations and want to be sure that there are a sufficient number of them before they go in for conversion. After all, there is no use switching over to an alternative means of fuel, if one cannot purchase that fuel. At least with diesel they have no problems in procuring it. There is good news for such people. Most fuel stations are setting up alternate tanks in which they can store and then supply biodiesel.

These fuel plants know that there is no alternative if they want to remain in competition. The future belongs to biodiesel and if they are not ready to meet the requirements of their clients, they might as well shut shop. Check out your favorite fuel outlet and chances are that they are already providing biodiesel. If they are not, it shall not be long before they too shall have a storage tank for the same. You can safely convert your car for running on this alternative fuel and be assured that there will be no shortage of supply points.

How to Make Biodiesel? Another Simple Tips

Biodiesel has a number of benefits, but one of the most exciting things about Biodiesel is that anyone can make it at home. Let us imagine: Being able to make your own fuel for your vehicle or even to create energy for your home? That spells a lot of savings for you.

It can be quite easy when it comes to making Biodiesel. Making your own Biodiesel is a great idea if you can do it because you get to save more money when you use Biodiesel that is made from your home.

Supplies to Making Biodiesel

To make a small batch of Biodiesel at home, you only need to comply with few input requirements The production of Biodiesel requires the actual ingredients alcohol, lye and vegetable oil. Mixing the fuel requires some input supplies: empty plastic bottles, duct tape, a blender and measuring cups. Be sure anything you use to make your Biodiesel is only used for that purpose and throw such inputs away for cooking ingredients.

Once your supplies are in place, you are ready to begin learning how to make Biodiesel.

Safe Procedure on Making Biodiesel

The production of Biodiesel is nothing risky. Fire or explosion is remote to happen. Infact your only major concern in terms of your safety, is burning yourself. Just be careful and realize the mixture does get hot.

You will go through the easy process of making Biodiesel which entails mixing the ingredients, letting it set, breaking up the byproduct and Biodiesel and then sanitizing the Biodiesel. The whole process can take a few days to a few weeks. That depends on how clean your vegetable oil was to start with.

Low Volume or High Volume

The production of a Biodiesel can be in a small scale or a large scale basis. Biodiesel kits are great if a few gallons of diesel production is what your expect to achieve at a time. If you depend on your lawnmower or similar equipments then A Biodiesel kit would be perfect. It is practical to use and will need a small level of inputs.

If your mindset is to produce more Biodiesel for the instance for running your automobile, you have to operate a Biodiesel processor. This makes the process much more efficient, thus you can generate a higher volume of production. The presence of a processor requires more inputs but you can find ease in making Biodiesel since the processor does most of the work for you.

Hydrogen Fuel Cars: In Response to the High Price of Gasoline?

The recent increase in petrol prices, people have another reason to opt for alternative means of transport. Increased cost of gas, using May, motivated many people clamor for alternative forms of transport would enter an era in which people no longer have to depend much on the so-called oil industry.
But with the shift to find alternative sources of transportation, many researchers have begun to interact with other types of alternative fuels for future cars. One of the most attractive and in fact the most attractive approach is to use hydrogen power to run the machines. It will be only temporary until the hydrogen battery vehicles will be used as the primary traffic on the streets. BTU, what is it?

Hydrogen cars are relatively new type of vehicle with hydrogen as its main on-board fuel. Hydrogen cars are not different from conventional cars that there is another type of engine to move the vehicle. There are two ways that this is possible.
This type of hydrogen car from the combustion of hydrogen fuel, like what happened with the gasoline engine. Hydrogen engine is actually a modified version of the traditional gasoline internal combustion engines. This process takes place in May, largely the same as the number of combustion of hydrogen gives explosive power, the engine produces mechanical energy to move the car.

The tangible benefits of hydrogen power vehicle, sees that it is using clean fuel source for power. This means that the use of hydrogen as a fuel makes it less environmentally harmful substances and chemicals emitted into the atmosphere. Indeed, the hydrogen car concept was implemented, as researchers have opted for a cleaner alternative fuels for use in the future to replace oil. And it is clear that hydrogen is suitable bill quite nicely.
Another type of hydrogen car developed today makes use of hydrogen fuel cells to power instead of specialized internal combustion engine. In this set-up, hydrogen is used to generate electricity and that can be used to the car of an electric motor. So emissions avoided entirely, unlike a car with the internal combustion engine (ICE) that run on hydrogen.

Although the use of hydrogen fuel cells Eye is to have a better chance for hydrogen cars energy in the future, May next plan still some obstacles. One of them, hydrogen fuel cells are too expensive to deal with existing technologies. Not only that hydrogen fuel cells also usually very vulnerable and sensitive to vibration and sudden movements. Engineers are still trying to develop and type of hydrogen fuel cells, which are strong enough to withstand the vibrations often strike, which usually comes with traveling by car. And at the same time, it would be necessary for a better and more affordable technology for the manufacture of hydrogen fuel cells, to make it cheaper for consumers.

But despite the problems that have so far on the development of a hydrogen car, his future remains very bright. What makes it especially attractive vehicles hydrogen batteries so that hydrogen is a renewable source of energy. This is unlike fossil fuels, which takes place sooner or later, and could lead to even greater increases in the price of gasoline. Hydrogen cars would be the logical alternative to the world searching for a means to move away from too much dependence on fossil fuels.

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+ Combating High Diesel Fuel Prices

Diesel Fuel Prices to Skyrocket - Water as the Next Best Option

The title says it all, and here's why: first of all, everyone's feeling the pinch of fuel prices. And it's not just the average Joes, it's everyone. Yes, even those who are high up in the economic world -- those who own airlines, investment companies, real estate, you name it. We're hearing about airlines asking passengers to pay for their airline food so they don't have to raise prices. Investment companies are crashing in the United States and the whole world feels the earth quake. Real estate firms are closing down buildings and liquidating their funds to stay afloat. All this because of diesel fuel prices.

If people were a tad ambitious or daring, we could go for something that has been proposed a few years ago as an alternative to diesel fuel -- water. First of all, it makes the car start and run. That's the most important thing we need to consider when dealing with alternative fuels. Second, it's inexpensive as compared to gasoline or diesel. Even if we say that gasoline is cheaper than diesel, there is still a substantial difference between using gasoline or diesel and using water. There may be some power technicalities, and car aficionados who love racing would attest to that, but the reality is that it works. Surveys show that people would consider using water as fuel for their cars if it means saving buckets of money that goes to the cashier at the gas pump.

The concept of water being used as fuel is simple. You will be using Hydrogen gas or H2 gas instead of diesel fuel or gasoline. Right now, technology still doesn't permit us to utilize 100% Hydrogen gas on a car. It is usually mixed with a little bit of diesel, but still it reduces the money you'll have to pay for diesel fuel. When you use the hybrid of diesel and hydrogen gas in your car, your car runs efficiently and it will get you to where you need to go.

How does water fuel come about? Here's a quick look at the science behind this amazing piece of technology. Electrolysis is the process by which water is converted to usable hydrogen gas. The device that initiates the electrolysis gets its power from the car's battery -- the circuit is fired up and hydrogen gas is ready to go. The gas is then released into the engine's air intake system where it travels through the combustion chambers and mixes with a little bit of diesel. This economical mixture of hydrogen gas and diesel makes for a perfect combination that maximizes the car's mileage and saves you gas money which is essentially the whole point of using alternative fuels.

You may think that there will be some complicated mumbo jumbo that you need to figure out before your car can run on water, but it's really easy to set up. Just make a visit to the hardware store, get all the things you need, come back home, get on the internet, and search for step by step instructions. That's basically all you need to do to save on gas money. Soon enough you'll see your savings skyrocket as high as the diesel fuel prices themselves.

Projection for Diesel Fuel Prices

For as long as the prices of crude oil and the demand for distillate fuels are maintained at a high level, the retail diesel fuel prices will in most likelihood be high, too.  The Energy Information Association (EIA) has released a report on what is likely to happen for remainder of 2008 and 2009 for the United States.  It states that the national average retail prices for diesel fuel will reach its highest point during the third quarter of 2008 then it will decline by the fourth quarter of 2009.

However, these are just projections; hence, there is no assurance or guarantee because it can be greatly affected by the instability and unpredictability of the prices of crude oil and petroleum products.  Among the many factors that affect the prices, below are the main ones that are faced by United States, especially the West Coast countries:

The Effect of Sulfur on Prices

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards for diesel fuel sulfur content can also alter the prices for diesel fuel.  What needs to be taken into consideration is the logistics of delivery of the Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) fuel to retail service stations.  Most of these products are transported via pipelines to reach the bulk terminals then to tanker trucks then finally to the retail stations.  Contamination may happen to the ULSD fuel because these pipelines, storage, and local distribution systems also serve to deliver other diesel fuels and petroleum products, which have higher sulfur content.  If a batch of ULSD fuel gets contaminated, it might not be an option to mix it with additional low-sulfur product to bring back its sulfur content to the original level.  The contaminated batch has to be returned to get reprocessed in a refinery, and this solution is a difficult and expensive one.  More so, the production of ULSD fuel entails a big expense to begin with.  So any problems that might arise along the way with regard to delivery will just add up to the expense.

Geography and Taxes

Another factor that affects the prices of diesel fuel in the United States is the geography.  West Coast countries have generally higher prices than the other parts of the country.  This holds true especially for California because of the taxes and issues on the supply.  These countries add more tax—that is, they combine the state and local taxes, and add another tax value on top of the federal excise tax and state tax.  Washington is one of the countries that have the highest tax.

Geography and Relief Supplies

The West Coast countries also have higher prices for diesel fuel because they have relatively fewer supply sources.  Because majority of the refineries in this region are located in California, a single refinery that encounters difficulties in operations will greatly affect the diesel supply.  In turn, this may elevate the prices because there will be fewer supply to meet the high demand.  More so, the West Coast is very far from the Gulf Coast and other foreign refineries—that is, any fluctuation on supply-demand will generally result in price fluctuation because it will take some time to transport relief supplies to these countries.  The farther the relief supplies are, the higher the diesel fuels prices will be and the longer it will remain at such price.

Combating High Diesel Fuel Prices

With the gasoline and diesel fuel prices increasing, people have come up with various solutions to go around this situation.  One of these solutions is the use of diesel fuel additives.  Primarily they are known to increase lubricity of fuel, hence decreasing the wear and tear of engine parts.  What is more is that it also can increase gas mileage.

Being a highly complex fuel, diesel fuel’s chemical structure changes from the time it leaves the refinery to the time it is pumped into holding tanks and fuel station to the time it gets pumped into the vehicle.  Oxidization and structural changes occur in the fuel molecules.  The energy per unit volume of the fuel can change during this phase, and this is what will cause your engine to have poor performance.

To combat the effects of fuel degradation and increase the fuel’s cetane value (discussed in detail below), the right type and ratio of fuel additives have to be used.  Among a myriad of benefits, the engine will be able to obtain more power from a gallon of fuel.

Diesel fuel has more energy per gallon as compared to gasoline.  The three types of diesel fuel are 1D, 2D, and a combination of the two.  The lighter grade is 1D, and it offers less energy than 2D.  It is more commonly used to reduce, if not eliminate, the gelling of fuel during cold winter climates; some people combine it with 2D.

The cetane rating denotes the diesel fuel’s ignition quality.  The higher the rating, the easier the fuel burns evenly and the more power is produced.  The average diesel fuel is at the 40-cetane level.  Large diesel trucks and diesel pickup trucks prefer a cetane rating in the 45- to 50- level; this is considered as the premium diesel.  However, this is not a general categorization—that is, the state’s regulations will dictate at which cetane rating is diesel fuel considered premium.

You should check with the fuel station with regard to the cetane ratings of the fuel they are selling.  The higher the cetane rating, the better the drivability as well as reduced emissions.  Moreover, the driver of the vehicle can feel the change in power (for the better).

Choosing the right diesel fuel additive can assure you that the diesel fuel will perform at its maximum because of its optimum quality.  Here are some of the effects of a good quality diesel fuel additive:

- Reduces Cylinder Wear:

It neutralizes acids during combustion.  It minimizes the wear of the acidic cylinder and it reduces the rate of engine oil depletion; thus, maintaining the quality of the engine oil for better protection.

- Minimizes Soot Loading:

It cleans fuel injectors and piston rings for better combustion and sealing.  This reduces soot loading, controls soot-related wear, and increases engine oil viscosity.

- Stabilizes Fuel:

Fuel degradation increases deposits, which can promote the plugging of filter.  The additive improves oxidation and thermal stability of the diesel fuel.

- Improves Fuel Economy:

It cleans dirty injectors as it improves the acceleration and restores horsepower, and in the long run it will enhance performance.

- Improves Water Tolerance:

An alcohol-free additive protects fuel systems against water contamination, helping to prevent emulsions.  It also protects the metal against rust.

To combat the increasing diesel fuel prices, you can consider using a diesel fuel additive and experience the change in your expenses as well as the drivability of your vehicle.

How the Industry Arrives at Diesel Fuel Prices

The movement in diesel fuel prices has had a strong impact in a variety of industries that makes use of diesel not only in running machinery, but also in transporting goods. This is because the use of diesel in transportation and energy underlie a huge number of functions in everyday life. Majority of delivery trucks, public transport vehicles like trains, buses, boats, ships and barges, and even construction and farming equipment, make use of engines that run on diesel fuel. This means that as the prices of diesel fuel soar, the costs required in facilitating the activities of which these vehicles and equipment take part in also increase. This either reduces the amount of profit these industries can have, or makes them have to choose the unfortunate option of levying costs on the retail prices they offer their consumers.

Regardless, anyone who has a stake in the way diesel prices change or move should at least attempt to understand what drives these fuel prices from going up or going down. By understanding what drives these movements and how the prices are determined, one is able to better foresee and interpret the various economic indicators that usually point to a time of increases in prices and the like.

In order to determine how fuel prices are derived, it’s important to first look at the costs associated with its production for availability in the retail market. The first cost to take into consideration is the cost of buying crude oil. Crude oil is the primary ingredient required in the production of a variety of fuels, including diesel fuel, gasoline, and even distillate heating oil. Crude oil prices are traded in the international market, which subjects it to the dynamics of international supply and demand. The limited supply of available crude oil from oil-producing countries, and the growing need or demand for energy worldwide has helped maintained competitive prices in the industry.

Next, crude oil enters the process of refining. This is the stage where crude oil is processed into the different forms of fuel it will become. Gasoline and diesel fuel primarily differ in the refining process that is used for it. Originally, better-refined gasoline was more expensive than diesel fuel; however, the costs of processing gasoline were overrun by the price impact of excess demand for diesel fuel. Diesel fuel and distillate heating oil, on the other hand, are processed using the same refining process. This is the reason why the increase in prices in one affects and increases the prices of the other.

Costs in order to bring the refined oil to the market—both marketing and distribution—also add material and at times, expensive costs to diesel fuel. This is because the transportation of oil, the marketing and advertising operations of the oil firms, and the manpower necessary to run all these operations, all involve costs that the company must incur in order to sell the final refined oil product to the market. Gasoline stations from where people get both gasoline and diesel fuel also incur costs for operations, a part of which is also levied on the retail prices of refined oil.

Over and above these production costs, governments levy taxes on oil products, creating greater impetus to increase fuel prices. It is the combination of these cost contributors that determine the dynamics of diesel fuel prices in the retail market.