Dr. Diesel and Peanut Oil - Myth or Legend?

Ah yes, Rudolph Diesel's 1893 compression-ignition "diesel" engine was invented to run on peanut oil, so it's okay to burn old fryer grease in our diesels, right?

I've seen this peanut oil story published in books and spread widely across the internet. Unfortunately, the real history isn't as clear as all that.

Gerhard Knothe, one of the USDA's top biodiesel researchers, found passages in "Chemical Abstracts" 6:1984(1912) and 7:1605(1913) in which Dr. Diesel writes:

at the Paris exhibition in 1900 there was shown by the Otto Company a small diesel engine, which, at the request of the French government, ran on Arachide (earth-nut or pea-nut) oil, and worked so smoothly that only very few people were aware of it. The engine was constructed for using mineral oil and was then worked on vegetable oil without any alterations being made.

So yes, a early unmodified diesel engine did run on peanut oil, but it wasn't Dr. Diesel's first engine.

Veg On!

13 million gallons of Alaskan fish oil

13 million gallons of Alaska's fish oil is lost every year.

The solution is a portable fish rendering plant.

The Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) recently sent out a request-for-application offering a $160,000 grant to create a mobile fish oil processing unit. Since the Energy Authority is managing this, a requirement is that some of the oil be used to displace diesel (as biodiesel, blends or svo).

Unfortunately, they didn't get any applications. James Jensen, the Grant Manager, is currently soliciting feedback on how the RFA could be made more appealing, and then the AEA plans to reissue it.

Here's some quotes from the RFA:

Every year Alaska's fishing industry dumps fish waste which "contains an estimated 13 million gallons of unrecovered fish oil." Much of this is discharged into the ocean.

"A major hurdle hindering further oil recovery from Alaska-generated fish processing wastes is that the waste is generated at numerous geographically dispersed sites over relatively short periods of time in following harvesting practices of wild stocks."

"The intent of this project is to provide grant funding and technical/business support toward the development, construction and demonstrated operation of a mobile fish oil recovery module."

"It is expected that at some processing sites, the fish oil product will be retained and utilized by the host facility and/or community to displace the use of conventional diesel engine or boiler fuels."

It's amazing that we're dumping this resource. Alaskans are in a unique situation to capture and use the many renewable energy resources that we are blessed with. Kudos to AEA for throwing some money in the mix to get the ball rolling.

Veg On!