Book Review: Do It Yourself Guide to Biodiesel

Reading the "Do It Yourself Guide to Biodiesel" by Guy Purcella was like having a long conversation with someone who is very knowledgeable about biodiesel, but on a different page.

Purcella sells a plastic-cone based biodiesel processor and obviously believes in safe, quality homebrew made in his design. Thankfully the book isn't a 230 page advertisement, but it does go to lengths to describe why the plastic cone-processor is a good idea.

Personally, I am opposed to mixing heated flammable chemicals in plastic.

He also strongly encourages folks to buy a pre-made processor or at least a kit. Now, the kit and DIY resources he recommends - Utah Biodiesel Supply, the Infopop Biodiesel-SVO forums and the Collaborative Biodiesel Tutorial are the same ones I point folks too, so I'm not sure where our paths diverged.

This may be the book for you if you want to buy a processor and have it "just work." Which, interestingly is the conversation I've been having recently with a few local folks.

Purcella goes into great detail describing everything except building a processor: the standard personal story, why petroleum is bad and biodiesel is good, oil collection, storage and titration, and quality testing homebrew, as well as storing, filtering and pumping the final product.

It's got a lot of information. Perhaps a little too dense for those just interested in biodiesel, but good for folks who are thinking about buying a pre-built reactor. This is probably the only book that lists a "buyers guide" to pre-built systems, and really lays out the big picture of what's required beyond the processor.

Of course, for those hardcore DIY types, my favorite book for actually building a processor is Home Brew Biodiesel from b100supply.

Veg On!

Book Review: Home Brew Biodiesel - a fabulous DIY manual.

B100supply has put out Home Brew Biodiesel, a unique and extremely helpful guide to brewing your own biodiesel. It reads a lot like a lab manual or a build-it-yourself guide: lots of pictures, lots of detail, lists of tools and supplies needed to build and operate a water-heater based biodiesel setup.

The Appleseed processor plans, wash tank plans, misting set-ups, overflow systems, basic electric control panels and more fill the first half of the guide. The second half provides step-by-step instructions to operating your new processor, and the appendices cover quality testing procedures, a few intermediate-level processing methods and waste stream management techniques.

Much of this information is free on the internet, but B100supply has done a wonderful job of wading through the crap to bring you the gems.

Most DIY biodiesel books spend a whole lot of time telling personal stories and explaining why petroleum is bad and how biodiesel is going to save the world and our pocketbook. Home Brew Biodiesel skips all the fluff and tells you how to build a processor, make your fuel, and test it for quality.

It's remarkable that the book not only covers collecting and testing oil, but goes into such processing details as how long to heat, how long to mix, and how to test if your batch is done. With the wide range of opinions on the internet, it's nice to have an authoritative guide to start you on your way.

This book does not go into acid-base reactions or methanol recovery, but even advanced brewers will find some of the testing techniques, waste stream treatments and wiring setups interesting.

Unfortunately for Alaskans, B100supply usually ships by UPS, which makes even little parts quite expensive. But they do offer their Home Brew Biodiesel book through cafepress, where the shipping is a reasonable five bucks.

It's definitely the best guide I've read for actually building a processor.

Veg On!

Book Review: Biodiesel America

I must be honest that I have mixed feelings about the author of Biodiesel America, Josh Tickell. He has made himself and and his Veggie Van into the grassroots face of big business biodiesel. His now-famous book From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank was how we all first learned to make biodiesel, but it's terribly outdated, and even the 3rd edition has unsafe techniques. Furthermore, Josh has renounced straight vegetable oil, and although he has videos on how to make biodiesel, he is more well know for his work with the big producer lobbying group the National Biodiesel Board.

But, much of that is behind us now. The NBB is embracing sustainable biodiesel and offers a half-price membership for small producers. Josh's new film Fields of Fuel has received rave reviews, and even Kumar at Yokayo has come around and embraced Josh's efforts. Personally, I'm hoping Josh and Fields of Fuel will come up to Anchorage to help promote the expansion of biodiesel in Alaska (more on this later).

As for the book, Biodiesel America: it's a great read for the end user - the individual or the fleet manager thinking about running biodiesel. It's not a how-to book, but more of a rosy "biodiesel will save the world" kind of book. The entire first half is setting the stage: the history of petroleum, peak oil, Dr. Diesel, and alternative energy. Not enough for one book? Tickell then turns to the benefits for American farmers, and the benefits of burning biodiesel. He gets a little bogged down in describing American politics, the farm bill, and the committees and politicians that are involved in biodiesel regulations and incentives. But, he comes back with a nice section on biodiesel plants, their growth and economics.

It's a fine book to loan to your friends who are interested in running biodiesel, or for the business owner that is considering it for their fleet.

Book Review: Biodiesel Power

Yep, it's winter in Alaska and I'm getting caught up on my reading.

Although Lyle Estill's book Biodiesel Power is over two years old, it is still a very pertinent and inspiring slice of the American biodiesel movement.

Subtitled "The passion, the people and the politics of the next renewable fuel." I found it a great read that covers not only Estill's journey from backyard brewing to becoming a regional producer, but also the quickly evolving American biodiesel scene.

The other biodiesel history book out there is Biodiesel: Growing a New Energy Economy by Greg Pahl, which is also a pretty good read. It focuses on biodiesel in the global context, how biodiesel was developed and encouraged by universities and governments and how business is running with it.

There's almost no overlap between the two books, and frankly, Biodiesel Power is a bit more entertaining. Maybe it's because it targets folks like me: backyard brewers that give a damn, folks that want to create community, inspire, educate and generally make the world a better place. It's really a book about the grassroots biodiesel movement.

It's the first book I've read that is based around a blog. Estill's Energy Blog chronicles his biofuel journey and he uses past enties as a framework to build his book. (Now if only Girl Mark and Kumar Plocher would package their blog archives into a book form, we'd be set!)

One thing I really appreciate about Estill's book is the way he nods to the founders of the scene, and then moves on. He acknowledges Joshua Tickell's small-batch blender method in his first attempts at making biodiesel, and then gently drops the technique. (I, on the other hand, have railed mightily about the dangers of mixing sparking spinning blenders and poisonous explosive chemicals.) Estill even praises the much maligned FuelMeister, not for it's mediocre fuel-making abilities, but for the fact that it brought larger-scale brewing capabilities to the masses. (Today, I'd go for the BioPro if I needed a pre-built processor.)

Another aspect I like is the way Estill takes on the tougher questions, like sustainability, politics, policy, and the 900 pound gorilla of biodiesel: the National Biodiesel Board. The stress between the small commercial producers and the large agribusinesses is an especially good part.

Biodiesel Power is a history of the American biodiesel movement told through a personal history of veg-fueling. Read it! And yes, you can pre-order his new book: Small is Possible.

Veg On!

Book Review: Not A Gas Station

Not a Gas Station: A History of the Biofuel Oasis and How to Create Your Own Biodiesel Filling Station by Jennifer Radtke is exactly what it claims to be, and I like it.

To quote directly from their website:

The book is a personal account of co-founding the BioFuel Oasis, a biodiesel filling station in Berkeley, California. It combines the entertaining stories of starting the Oasis with the practical information to start your own station.

Yep, that's it. I just finished reading it, and it's well worth the $15.

The bright orange photocopied cover is testament to the pure DIY effort towards urban sustainability that this women-owned worker's collective has brought to Berkeley, California. It's an entertaining and empowering read. It's not a corporate how-to book, but rather a straightforward and enjoyable grassroots guide for positive change.

Wanna make a difference and bring biodiesel to the masses? Don't have a lot of cash, but rather a lot of passion? This book will inspire you. It inspired me.

Veg On!

Sliding Home: A Near Perfect Primer on SVO.

"Sliding Home: A Complete Guide to Driving Your Diesel on Straight Vegetable Oil" by Ray Holan is perhaps the best $30 a prospective SVO-WVO-vegoil driver can spend.

It is over 300 pages of humorous easy-to-read vegoil information. I've read it cover-to-cover, twice.

Starting with Ray's (and his wife's) personal story of how he came to SVO - through a love of cars, renewable energy and biodiesel-related explosions; and continuing to walkthroughs of actual installations - it's an informative, enjoyable read.

It covers all the major kit companies, and a number of the smaller ones. It gives a short history of Dr. Diesel and his engines, and goes over the wide selection of diesels available in the North American market.

If you want to save your time and sanity and avoid wading through the myriad of internet opinions, this is the introductory book you need to read.

It is not a technical manual. Non-mechanics will love it for explaining how to run vegoil while avoiding jargon.

However, if you're looking for the technical aspects of vegoil and your fuel injection system, you should head straight for "The Edge of Veg" by Stephen Helbig, the only other SVO-centric book.

My only critique of "Sliding Home" is that it's a nice book, perhaps a bit too nice. It details all the kits and vehicles available, but leaves it up to you to choose the best one. At 300 plus pages, however, this is a small issue. Another issue, not really a critique, is the fact that it's a book. Great to read, but not necessarily the latest cutting edge information. It's not the book to design or install your system by. It's the book to understand all the craziness you're reading on the internet - the near perfect primer.

And, if you want opinions on the best kit or the easiest car to convert, just check out the Vegwerks Blog!

Veg On!

The Edge of Veg, A Book Review

"The Edge of Veg: an Introduction to Running Diesel Engines on Vegetable Oil by Stephan Helbig" is a very worthwhile, if somewhat awkward, read.

I give it a 3.5 out of 5: 4.5 for the content and 2.5 for the writing.

"The Edge of Veg" is a great companion to Ray Holan's "Sliding Home: A Complete Guide to Driving Your Diesel on Straight Vegetable Oil."

While "Sliding Home" provide a fabulous do-it-yourself approach to converting your diesel to vegoil, "The Edge of Veg" explains what's happening inside your engine.

In "The Edge of Veg" Helbig takes a look at different injection systems, analyzes how they work and how vegoil passes through them. It also takes a hard look at prechambers, whirlchambers and direct-injection engines and discusses how the vegoil ignites in each and tells how to optimize your vehicle for vegoil.

"The Edge of Veg," however, suffers from run-on sentences, difficult phrasing and numerous spelling and grammatical errors. I'm assuming that it's because the German author is writing in English - as a second language.

Overall, it's a worthwhile read to understand the ignition properties of vegoil and how it interacts with the standard diesel injection and combustion systems.

"The Edge of Veg" is distributed in North America by the National Vegoil Board. It's free with a full membership. Otherwise it's only available from Amazon.de in Germany, but with the dismal euro to dollar exchange rate and with overseas shipping, not to mention trying to order in German, wouldn't you rather just join the Vegoil Board?