Why biodiesel?

The reason I chose biodiesel as an alternative fuel is that it can be used immediately: one doesn't need to be a serious hobbyist or car expert. It is much better than regular fossil fuels in terms of carbon use and emissions, and provides enormous flexibility of sourcing. It is not "the solution" to the energy question. In fact, what makes it appealing at the moment, is that it isn't burdened with being the only, or ultimate, solution. If everyone, overnight, chose biodiesel as their fuel, it would be a disaster. But as a smaller scale, temporary solution it is ideal.

Now is the time for biodiesel. It is a realistic, less polluting option, while humanity comes up with cleaner solutions. It really doesn't make sense to drive around wasting valuable petroleum, and contributing to you-know-what until a "magic bullet" is found. "The solution" is a path of intermediate, imperfect but improving adoptions. Moderation and innovation are what's needed, not bickering over perfection.

Here are biodiesel's advantages over many of the other alternative energy sources for automobiles.

Regular diesel cars can use biodiesel right now. They are commonly available as new and used models, unlike battery driven, hydrogen, compressed air or compressed gas cars. Gas/electric hybrids are now very available, but used ones are scarce and have the hybrid battery expiration problem (replacing a hybrid battery is expensive). New cars are often cleaner overall, but making a whole new car is very polluting. Diesel encourages buying or using older cars. Also, large commerical trucks, which use an enormous amount of fuel per mile because they require more strength to pull their weights, are very compatible with biodiesel. The "reduce, reuse, recycle" paradigm fits biodiesel more than any other alternative at this moment.

Biodiesel is very flexible. Ethanol, which is also very flexible in terms of sources, is a great option in that it works with many regular gas cars, but then one relies on regular gas engines, which are less efficient than diesel. Ethanol, too, can be produced from a variety of sources, but not from as many as biodiesel.  A diesel car can use biodiesel AND always has the option of being converted to a SVO/WVO, which in turn does not exclude using biodiesel or regular diesel as a backup. Biodiesel protects a car's backwards and forwards compatibility.

Biodiesel is non-toxic (well, just a little) and not explosive (at normal temperatures). If regional or occasional scarcity is a problem, carrying around containers of biodiesel in the car itself is a relatively safe option. Having larger amounts of it on your property does not involve significant hazards. There are no fumes, nor risks of sudden explosions. This "harmlessness" is actually very important, because it means that ordinary people can experiment with committing their car to biodiesel without fear.

Most importantly, biodiesel is a more democratic source of energy, because it can be produced from so many types of feedstocks or waste oils, and be produced by so many non-corporate elements of the population. It can be "home brewed" and even "home grown"(meaning the oils themselves are produced from seeds, grasses, algea, etc.)  In this regard, it resembles solar and wind energy, which can be produced privately, and distributed back into the market. With biodiesel/SVO/WVO/homegrown fuel there is the potential of a large number of people producing themselves and competing with larger conglomerates, undermining their monopoly. Ethanol and hydrogen are not democratic, they rely completely on a corporate elite of expertise and capital, not to mention on troubling government subsidies. Electric and plug-in hybrid cars also have the democratic sourcing potential, when individuals use solar, wind, or thermal energy to charge their cars,  but the car models aren't very common yet (although I expect this path to be the ultimate winner). The ideal car for the next 5-10 years, which no one seems to be producing yet, would be a biodiesel compatible, plug-in hybrid. Biodiesel and electricity would in such a case exponentially multiply each other's flexibility.

The flat tire

Since I first got the Rabbit pickup, I was unhappy with its hard, bumpy ride. Some shocks were replaced early on by my mechanic, but that didn't improve things noticeably. All the mechanics I talked to said that different shocks wouldn't really help, and that softer shocks would make the car less tolerant for heavy loads. Still, I see other pickups, which can take a lot of weight, have a very smooth ride. I still suspect that some kind of luxurious shocks should be able to improve the situation - we'll see.

As a possible alternative to replacing the shocks, I've been looking into replacing the tires. Today, having the additional motivation of prescience concerning an impending flat tire, I went to Town Tire, which has always been very helpful with advice, and good service, to ask about replacing the tires with more plush ones. They said the tires look like they're still relatively new, from 08, and that they don't recommend changing them. I appreciated the honesty. One of the tires has been losing air, though, so I said I would return soon for a diagnostic, and also regarding the question of changing the shocks. My urge was just to change the tires right there and then, for safety's sake. I should have listened to my instincts.

My wife needed me to pick up an antique bathtub in a nearby town, so I drove with the pickup towards High Springs, FL. For the first time, I drove the car on the highway. I didn't try to go past 65 mph, not wanting to push my luck. I hit some kind of object on the way -  it felt like a rock or piece of metal bounced off the bottom of the car. I decided not to take it too seriously, and the the car didn't seem to be affected by it. But, deep down it did spark some anxiety. My ride on the highway was only about 15 minutes, but soon I was glad to exit alive.

Just as I came off the exit ramp, wondering why that experiment turned out so well, a woman in a car told me my right rear tire was very low. I pulled over into a gas station. The tire was completely out of air. I added air and it just blew out of an 1/8 inch hole. I guess today is my flat tire lesson from the internship on wheels.

I called the nearby City Boys Tires and Brakes and they said they'd be available for another 20 minutes. This time table added stress to the situation. Some guy in a pickup truck yelled: "Kickass pickup!". That cheered me up a little (I chose to believe he wasn't messing with me). Inside the gas station store I got advice on some products that fix tires. A jovial, bearded man recommended this tire fix product which involves a thick, needle-like object and sticky rubber strips, as well as the tire foam solution, which he said is very effective and easy to apply. I tried the tire fix option first, but was too anxious to get it to work. The instructions didn't make any sense to me, although I understand it in principle. Then I just screwed in the foam can into the tire valve and it blew up the tire, while coating the inside. I was very impressed. I will from now on always carry one of those in the truck bed box.

I hastily made it to the tire place and the tire actually held up. I considered just driving onwards, but sensed that this might not be safe. I had no appointment, so waited a while to have the tire looked at. A guy came out and asked "What's Biodiesel?". I explained briefly. He seemed giddy at the sight of the car.

Recently some cable dropped out from under the dash, which disconnected the glow plug and the radio and iphone charger. I hadn't really cared before, but today I was very dependent on my phone since I needed directions to the place for picking up the tub, and my family was going out to dinner and I needed to stay in touch. My phone was losing battery already. I asked him to have a quick look at the cable, and he immediately found the right place to plug it back in. Then he drove the car into the shop.

After some waiting and planning the next steps of the day, I was told the tire was too blown out to repair and that they didn't have any replacements. They did notice the spare under the car, but that had dry rot and wasn't usable. Also, some of the bolts were too long to attach the spare tire anyway. This meant I was stuck there. I looked into taking a cab home, but that was going to be over $90. I called my wife arranged her picking me up after the dinner and paying for the tub in High Springs, just to ensure the sale. All in all, it was a strange day, but I always enjoy being out in the country and having a good topic with people.

Lessons learned:
I now know what's meant by dry rot. Always carry a quick tire fix, such as a tire foam can. Know the real age of your tires and carry a functioning spare that fits the bolts, plus the tools to change it. Practice changing a tire before you need to. Have a backup charging solution for the phone: flat tire = no transportation = phone is the most important object.

Building a home fueling station

Today I finished the long planned improvement of my fueling station. Originally I just used 5 gallon "cubies" to pour directly in the tank (maybe that's what caused the eventual "obstruction" in it.) That system was very annoying because holding the fuel containers for that long caused cramping in my hands and my back.

Then I bought a used 55 gallon drum, built a solid shelf for it out of 4x4 wood planks so it could "gravity feed" into the car using water tubes and a water gun normally used for lawn care. Those hoses and fitting quickly deteriorated due to the biodiesel.

I got more concerned about the cleanliness of the fuel and the convenience of the fueling so I added a fuel gun and fuel filter to the line. But the fuel line is too long (12 feet) and constantly sags. I tried having it cut, but no one was able to do it. Adding fuel to the drum never really worked well. I tried using a "drill pump" and ingenious little device that attaches to a regular electric drill and suctions fuel from one place to another, but it takes a while and doesn't work well with hoses that fold easily.

I remembered seeing images of people's setups with the drums on the ground, vertically, with a pump on top. I started looking into electric pumps, but the 120 V versions are too expensive, and the 12volt versions all use car starter cables and don't have a "bung" (the pipe that runs from the pump to the bottom of the drum). Online, it seemed most people were using hand pumps. These pumps are not expensive, and it looks like they are one of those classic designs that has long lost its copyright protections, so there are many versions. A design like that will probably work very well having proved itself over the decades. Many come in red, which happens to match the fuel tank nicely, as if they were a single unit. At Amazon, which had the most choices and the same prices as Northern Tool, and better prices than Tractor Trailer Supply, I chose the "Advanced Tool Design Model ATD-5009 Rotary Barrel Pump with Telescoping Pipe"  although I think most of the others would have been fine as well.

I thought I was getting an outlet with a threaded end, but it was just thickened a bit, so I had to rethink how to attach it. At Home Depot I found a reinforced 1 inch transparent tube, which fit perfectly. Using hose clamps I attached it to the outlet and the fuel gun and filter end. I kept the strong 4x4 planks on top so I could pour fuel into the tank from above, while the cubies sit suspended, and attached a (red) funnel, which greatly improves adding fuel to the drum. Then onto the funnel I can add a filter (such as an old t-shirt or sheet or a 5 micron cloth filter) which means no more bucket to bucket filtering. I also added a shelf to contain all the cubies. I can definitely recommend this setup.