It doesn’t matter if you are struggling for cash or one of the richest individuals in the country, the issue of soaring fuel prices is likely to anger you immensely. While the government seems to frantically reel out initiatives to try and get the economy back on its feet, a lot of businesses are struggling to stay afloat with fuel prices meaning that some practices are no longer affordable.
It’s therefore no surprise to see that a lot of people have tried to get around the massive increases and run their vehicles on biofuels. As the remainder of this article will highlight, they are certainly not for everybody, but if your vehicle is a suitable candidate they can save you a serious amount of money.
What are biofuels and do they replace standard fuel?
If you’re looking for the official definition, biofuels are produced from renewable biological resources. In the case of biofuels for cars, this means that industrial waste is a qualifying resource – with chip fat oil being the usual substance that is used to power vehicles.
Of course, it’s not simply a case of finding your nearest fast food outlet and taking their oil from their hands. Instead, it has to be put through a rigorous process before being inserted into the vehicle. Once you have collected sufficient quantities of the oil (and most outlets will provide it free of charge to avoid waste oil disposal costs), it needs to be filtered. Other additives and alcohol are then added to the mixture, before the solution is left in a tank, such as the bunded fuel tank here, for approximately two days. After this time, it is able to be used as a biofuel in qualifying vehicles.
How much money can I save?
This really depends on the option you take. For example, there have been cases of specialist biofuel garages being established – with these charging less than £1 per litre. Of course, if you decide to take matters into your own hands you can save much more money, with some suggesting that the fuel can be created for around 18p per litre. Considering the astronomical price of petrol at the moment, you don’t have to be a math genius to calculate the mammoth savings that can be made.
Is my car suitable?
This is unfortunately where the issue starts to get a little more complicated. It’s not just a case of locating one of these specialist biofuel garages and pumping your tank full of the substance. This can only occur on certain cars, usually of the old variety. Therefore, if you happen to have a vehicle from the 80s or early 90s, there’s a very good chance that it is suitable.
Of course, if your car isn’t suitable you can convert your engine. This is something that should only be performed if you are confident in your mechanical abilities, or if you know a mechanic who has experience in engine conversions. It’s actually not as expensive as you may imagine and it can be done for less than £1,000 if you take on the task yourself. Considering the potential savings on offer, many would suggest that this would be money well spent.
