Running on biodiesel at last!
Posted by DavidM in Driving | 17 February 2007
After what seems like an eternity I am now running my car on 50% biodiesel.
The poor guys at Enfuels have been working hard to perfect their biodiesel production and have had to put up with me - and others by the sounds of it - ringing every other day to see if it's ready. All credit to them, they could have sold it to me 2 weeks ago but refused to do so until they were sure it was the right quality.
I got the call Thursday afternoon to say they had the first batch ready to sell and I popped in last night to get my first 30 litres.
I got the full tour of the unit and was impressed with all the kit. The building is still a mess and they were in the middle of painting the offices but they had the most important piece right - production of biodiesel from used vegetable oil.
They had three 1,000 containers of waste oil ready for conversion to fuel. This comes from chip shops and other small producers at the moment (even the kebab van across the road has started giving them his 20 litre cans of waste oil) which would otherwise have gone into animal feed or landfill. As they ramp up production to around 5,000 litres a day they're looking to larger scale producers of waste oil.
This is the best source to use for biodiesel as it has the least impact on the environment.I certainly wouldn't buy any biodiesel that came from crops at the expense of deforestation.
The price of Enfuel's biodiesel is the same as diesel at my local garage - currently 89p - so it doesn't even cost me more to be green.
Joe filled my car with 30 litres and I drove off, slightly nervously. I needn't have worried. The car performed perfectly normally - in fact, if anything it felt slightly smoother today.
Once they've got themselves established they are looking to add solar panels to the roof. The offices and especially the fuel production takes quite a bit of power, so by moving to solar energy they will reduce the net effect of the fuel even further.
I really liked the team at Enfuels and what they were doing. Their approach was pragmatic and will achieve the right results.
I'll go in once a week or so for the next couple of months to make sure everything on the car runs fine then I'll look to take a bulk delivery. In late spring I'll also move to running on 100% biodiesel.
As running a car is the biggest single carbon impact I have, moving to biodiesel will massively improve my overall carbon footprint.
After months of faffing about changing my car and finding a biodiesel supplier I am very happy to at last have made the change.
Enfuels are at Thatcham near Newbury, just off the M4.
For other biodiesel outlets in the UK have a look at the Biodiesel Filling Station list.
For biodiesel stockists throughout the world, check out Eco Business Links.
