Unprocessed Plant Oil as Fuel

One kilogram of canola seeds — the amount in the plastic bag — makes the amount of oil that’s in this flask. The seeds come from pods like the ones in this dried bouquet.

Basics

• Pure plant oil (PPO), also known as straight vegetable oil (SVO) can substitute for biodiesel under certain circumstances. The plant oil is often more viscous than diesel and modifications to the engine may be necessary. These may include a pre-heating step. The advantage over biodiesel is potentially lower cost, as additional steps for transesterification/preparation may perhaps be omitted (compare to biodiesel recipe at JourneyToForever which calls for methanol and sodium hydroxide).

Internal Links

• Bio-Diesel
• Biofuel
• Plant Oils

External Links

• The Wikipedia Page on Vegetable Oil Fuel
• Appropedia: "Pure Plant Oil As Fuel"
• Nordic Folkecenter: "Pure Plant Oil: Clean Engine Fuel Today & Tomorrow"
• paper from the United States Department of Energy (April 2006) "Straight Vegetable Oil as a Diesel Fuel?" (internal copy)
• Journey to Forever: "Straight vegetable oil as diesel fuel"