Today everyone has heard about diesel engines - primarily because they have now gained a public reputation as being dirty and polluting - however not everyone has heard of the man behind the engine, his creativity and the mystery surrounding his death. On that last subject there are many theories and contradictions! Rudolph Diesel was born in Paris in 1858 where his parents … [Read more...]
Recycled Vegetable Oils
Over the years there have been many stories of people running cars and commercial vehicles on recycled vegetable oils – oils that would be disposed of after several cooking cycles in restaurants, take-away outlets or other commercial kitchens. At first, like many people, I was quite bemused by this as I couldn’t see how it would work and then I saw several motoring programs … [Read more...]
Algae as a Fuel Source
Over the years of producing podcasts and writing articles, I have talked many times about algae and its benefits as a fuel source. The most commonly discussed biofuel in the media is ethanol produced from corn because of the dilemma of using lots of water to turn a food source into a fuel to power vehicles, causing much debate. One other source of biofuel is algae. This … [Read more...]
Brewtholeum!
Biofuels are slowly making headway in the fuel market with feedstocks and non edible plants being used either in a marketable product or under development for a viable fuel. We have also seen the rise of food waste as a source of bio-diesel, even algae and I recently wrote about Tobacco and Jatropha as a possible source. A new source that I read about recently comes from New … [Read more...]
Biofuels – Two new plants are under research
Biofuels have been around for decades if not centuries as humans use waste to provide heat or to cook food. Waste cooking oil has been used for years as a diesel substitute and several companies in the US and Europe have specialised in converting diesel cars to use it. In recent years biofuels have been associated with corn based ethanol that has not only taken away a staple … [Read more...]