Making Biodiesel : Between a Rock and a Hard Place
The small scale domestic production of biodiesel has been more of an evolution than a revolution. Slowly creeping into the thoughts and practices of the cash strapped and environmentally conscious over the last decade.
Time however changes everything, however incrementally. We have seen the government move its position from taxing all biodiesel to allowing small scale home production to be tax free (although one has to ask how could they possibly police home production?). Restaurants now by and large charge people a fee to take away their used oil no doubt in response to rising vegetable oil prices, where once they were simply glad to be rid of it.
Just a few short years ago your only option was to cobble together a processor at home and learn the rough art of home biodiesel production by trial and error. Now the internet is awash with guides, factory quality processors and cheap supplies to make and purify your fuel.
But where next for this clean green fuel that is so easy now to make at home? It seems clear that demand for waste oil is starting to approach the limits of supply in many small towns, while industrial production is nowhere near producing a surplus which would keep the cost to the consumer down.
Why is this the case? One reason is obviously competition for food crops. Until Autumn 2007, 3.8 million hectares within the EU were “set-aside” under the Common Agricultural Policy as a means to reduce the EUs’ grain mountains. That’s roughly 8-10% of all arable land available (and its worth noting that with memberships from nations like Poland pending this was likely to increase). That land used for fuel could produce another 4500 million litres of rapeseed oil for fuel[1] (4 million tonnes) without impacting food production, but this would not even scrape the surface of the demand for diesel which currently exceeds 150 million tones per year for the 15 core EU nations. In any event Set Aside has now been scrapped and much of that land ear-marked for preservation of wildlife.
I believe we are approaching a critical turning point over the next couple of years where home producers will reach saturation point and the availability of low cost waste oil outside of major cities will fall off dramatically. It may even be time right now for those considering making biodiesel to make the jump now and secure supply contracts with one or more local restaurants to ensure a sustainable flow of vegetable oil.
Those who act now will likely be some of the last to secure a lifetime supply of virtually free biodiesel fuel, while those who wait will have to hope that the EU finds a solution to producing enough biodiesel without impacting food production.