Recycling Waste Vegetable Oil – Easy?
Posted in Biofuels | Environment and Sustainability | Transportation
It’s almost too good to be true. Restaurants produce a large amount of waste vegetable oils. Currently they have to sell this grease to oil-recycling companies and are charged a pick-up fee for the service. These companies in turn recycle the grease and re-sell it on the commercial market for a profit. It is therefore relatively easy to find a free source for bio-waste from local restaurants. They would gladly have someone recycle their waste for free. This gives the small-scale biofuel user a great opportunity to decrease their fuel expenses while saving the environment – or does it?
One of the most popular myths about biofuel is that producing biodiesel at home is easy, and that anyone can do it. The dangers of making fuel at home should be obvious. The process involves working with large quanties of toxic and flammable fluids. Extensive technical experience and safety research are a must. Producing biofuel takes a great deal of dedication and labor. The truth is, producing home biofuel is not easy – it is complicated and extremely dangerous.
Not to mention that there are no universal production standards for small biofuel manufacturers. Home-brew operations produce biofuels with a wide variety of toxicity levels and waste by-products. These low standards are partially the result of shortcuts, irresponsibility and the use of mis-guided instruction from online sources. The online community has created many myths and misinformation about biofuel production techniques and procedures. Anyone who is considering saving money by making their own fuel should take a close look at the actual financial costs and careful dedication that are required in order to meet environmental safety regulations.
» Source: Biofuels