Converting One's Car to Biodiesel

More and more people are discussing biodiesel fuel as an alternative to traditional petroleum oil. This is for several reasons. Individuals are more concerned about the environment and biodiesel fuels are much more environmentally friendly. People are also concerned about cost. With gas prices extremely high and rising seemingly everyday, people are looking for alternatives, and biodiesel fuel provides a good alternative.

Biodiesel fuel use vegetable oils to power cars. Most biodiesel cars are hybrids, and they can use either traditional fuel or biodiesel. Individuals who do not have a biodiesel car may be interested in how they can convert their car, so that it can run on a biodiesel fuel. This can be done in one of two ways. The first way includes having a mechanic convert your car and this typically costs close to $1000. The second option is to do-it-yourself. There are many great plans on the Internet that will show you exactly how to do this. However, for those that are not mechanically inclined, they may opt for option one. In this article we will discuss the process of converting one's car to biodiesel and what is involved.

The first thing that an individual needs to understand is that to convert their car to biodiesel, it has to have a diesel engine. It can't be used in an engine that was created to run on gasoline. However, any diesel engine can use biodiesel. You're likely only to need to convert your car if you want to run it all on straight vegetable oil.

One of the advantages of using biodiesel is that it's much cheaper than traditional gas. This is true in many cases. A lot of it depends on exactly where you're getting your fuel and if you're creating it yourself or not. For example, some people will get free used vegetable oil from restaurants, and so it costs them very little to create their fuel. In these cases, they will end up paying about two dollars per gallon. In this day in age, that's incredibly cheap. Another advantage regarding biodiesel is that you can switch back and forth. If you find that you're not getting the performance that you want, you can go back to simply using diesel fuel.

One question that individuals have when considering biodiesel is whether or not their warranty might be voided if they use biodiesel. The answer to this question is that it depends. As the biodiesel industry gains more respect, individuals, car companies and the government, are encouraging the use of this type of fuel and subsequently, many warranties will cover cars that have problems even if they are due to the use of biodiesel fuel. Fore example, Volkswagen and Mercedes are two car brands, who warranties do not exclude the use of biodiesel. To be sure, one simply needs to take a look at their warranty.

This article was a simple introductory lesson on biodiesel. You will likely hear more and more about it in the press. There seems to be greater acceptance as people become more concerned about the environment and the cost of gasoline.