Arriving here in late June, I really had no idea what to expect from Dancing Rabbit or what they expected from me. My knowledge of biodiesel was limited to a few demonstrations and my chemistry was definitely a bit rusty. But the friendly folk here trusted me and helped me learn, and the quest was on.
Two interns, Douwe and myself, worked on the biodiesel project. First on our list was cleaning and remodeling the old pig shed that was to become our laboratory. We ripped down half the roof that was too low and scrubbed pig shit off the walls, floor, and remaining ceiling. If you've never smelled re-hydrated pig shit or had it fall on your head and face, you don't know what you're missing. Then we had to put up vapor/fire guards in the roof around the biodiesel area to protect the rest of the barn.
Next came the more pleasant job of arranging our workspace. We designed the layout, wired electricity from a roof-mounted solar panel for lights, fans and outlets, and built sturdy equipment stands.
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| Amy stands in the foundation of the new cabin |
Then the real fun began; we actually started making biodiesel! At first we used a blender on the back porch to get a hang of how the ingredients mixed and what the final products looked like. We made a couple of batches of who-knows-what, but then started to get the hang of it and sure enough started producing biodiesel and glycerin! While we were having fun on the back porch, we were also making the rounds to local restaurants looking for used oil suppliers. But much to our dismay, most restaurants around here contract out their waste oil to companies that use it to make soap, add to animal feed, and other assorted ends. So finding used oil is proving to be one of the hardest steps in the whole process. However, we are starting to line up reliable sources for oil, so hopefully this won't be a problem in the future.
We've now begun experimenting with larger batches, aiming to produce enough to meet all our transportation needs. This process, as hinted at before, uses waste vegetable oil from deep fat fryers, lye, and methanol. That's it! And biodiesel can run in any unmodified diesel engine, producing not the noxious diesel fumes, but a nicer odor of french fries! This process is easy enough that people can make biodiesel in their backyards and revolutionize the way we power internal combustion diesel engines. This doesn't solve the issue of internal combustion: road building, pollution, maintenance, waste materials, and many other problems. But biodiesel does help soften the effect by not introducing underground carbon into the air, cutting other air pollution, and recycling restaurant waste. We are not encouraging people to dive right in and experiment and make their own biodiesel; get educated and read up first. One book that we found extremely useful was From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank by Joshua and Kaia Tickell (you can buy a copy from us if you like). If you have questions or would like to learn more about about the process, write or drop us an email.
For more info, see the biodiesel section of our website.
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