Just phoned HM Customs and Revenue advice line, and they told me that as of tomorrow (or 1st july, whichever) you can use 2500 litres of veggie oil as fuel in a year tax free with no need to inform the HMRC.
My summers motoring just got a lot cheaper; 55p/l for fuel is too good to pass up, even if it is in just a 5 or 10% solution!
It can be free if you just go to your local chippy or somewhere and give them a tank to store it in and collect it filter it of bits and your away, initial cost of the tank and filter - free petrol :)
nice, you can get a 2ltr bottle of veg oil from Netto/aldi/lydl etc for 75p
in this weather you should be fine with 40/50% mix.
expect a fuel filter change every couple of months for a while tho, as veg oil cleans the tanks and tends to clog the filters after abit until its all clean.
yeah, but for the thankless task of going to the chippy, collecting the stuff and filtering it Id rather just shell out the 55p/l and get it without any sh*te or animal fat in :lol:
if youre just going to stick new fresh veg oil in your tank, you dont have to worry about filter changes etc...
thats only if you use bio-diesel which is a erm.. thingie (forgot the word!) which will clan all the crap out of the tank etc...
#
Ive been intrested in this too.... because the first 2500 liters of bio diesel you yse is tax free too ;)
Its a solvent (biodiesel i mean)
heres the details:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/si/2007-1640.pdf
paying for diesel? Havent done that in about 4 years
Alright for some innit? :lol:
Ill get some funny looks off the police guards at work when I pull in smelling like a chippy :D
How do I do this?
Im buying a truck (L200) tomorrow a our company is taking our company cars & replacing them with vans.
Main reason im looking to leave - prob going to do an electrician course...
anyway..
how/what do I run a vehicle on veggie oil / bio-diesel.
a 5yr old knows more about cars than I do, so pls dumb the posts down to a 4yr old level.
Veg Oil doesnt replace diesel does it? its mixed with diesel?
Whats cheaper - biodiesel or vegdiesel?
Knighty knows a lot about this! PM maybe, as he was very helpful when I was looking at getting a diesel.
Quote from: chrisdickoKnighty knows a lot about this! PM maybe, as he was very helpful when I was looking at getting a diesel.
cool
im looking for some pointers atm.. just done a little reading. Theres a few places that sell biodiesel for less than £1/l around here...
might need to do some maths & see..
I dont do enough miles to warrant a full veg system/conversion kit, but would be interested in knowing about as my needs may change
knighty, after your shift dropping your pants down at the docks, post some info here
what year cars are you looking at ?
if you pick the right car/truck/whatever you can run it on 100% veg oil without any conversion etc...
(might need a bit of diesel mixed in when its really cold to thin the oil a bit)
Ive got an iveco daily (2001, common rail, with the fancy fule pump and injectors etc..) which is twin tanked, start up on diesel and drive off as normal.... once the engine is warm flick a switch and its running on veg oil.... then I flick back to diesel about a 1/2 mile from my destination to flush all the oil out of the system... (or just leave it ticking over on diesel for 5 min if I forgot to switch early)
Ive got a transit (2005) which I just mix veg oil in the tank with diesel...trick is to keep the tank level low and stick a tenner of diesel in on the way home for the night so itll start the next day - itll struggle to start on much over 25/75 veg/diesel..... the engine is a bit modern for the oil to be mixed in like that really, it should be twin tanked... and its probably not doing it any good... but its buggered anyway so what the hell ;)
the best van I have for veg is.... an old citron van (T reg) its an old engine disigne (indirect injection) whcih is perfect for vegoil... it runs on 100% veg oil most of the time and runs perfectly... when it;s really cold we stick 10% diesel in so it starts a bit quicker in the morning
do you do many miles ?
you can buy new veg oil from asda/tescos/bookers etc.. for about 70p/litre.... or used oil ready to use from ebay for about 45p/litre... of if you dont mind getting your hands dirty you can buy dirty oil from an oil collection place / pick it up from your local chippy for free.... but it needs filtering etc...
if you look on here.... http://biomotors.co.uk/CarsVansV.html
and pick a car/truck from the list thats listed as "single tank" those are the ones you can just toss veg oil into the tank and itll be fine / easy.... tho its better if you pick up a heat exchanger (£40) to heat the oil, itll make your fule filters etc.. last longer.... would probably take a mechanic 20/30min to fit#
veg oil has saved me a fortune.... the iveco alone was using £300 a week in diesel... but for the same distance it probably closts me about £40 now
(tho of course Ill have to limit how much oil I use to stay under the 2500litres limit ;) )
this is a good place to look for extra info: http://www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk/forum
(Im knighty on there too)
theres a lot of people on there using veg oil / bio diesel etc. etc. etc.
(even if you buy in bio diesel have a look on that forum and see how to test it to make sure its good stuff.... Ive never done it, but you pretty much mix 100ml of bio diesel with 100ml of water, shake it up and see what happens.... crappy bio can kill your pump/injectors etc..)
do you need the load space on the back ? a 3.1 Isuzu Trooper will run on 100% veg oil with no modifications as long as its built on/before 1998
p.s. no-one takes it up the ass down the docks anymore..... if youre paying for it you might as well lie back and have a bj... more more relaxing than all that thrusting ;)
its an l200 2.8td - its the older version that uses the shogan 2.8 engine. Clock has about 50k on it.
I done some looking but cant find if it can be done with 1 tank. I believe there is a 2 tank kit,
but im also under the impression any diesel can be done 2 tank - I wouldnt use a switch as Id forget to switch
& not really prepared to pay £1k for a kit & fitting. Ill only do around 100miles a week, so not really worth it.
plastic can - 25 litres or so - free
tubing - about a tenner
solenoid valve - £20-30
Wiring and switch - about £5
Fuel heater - £40 or so
Turbo timer to keep car running after shutoff, with automatic switch to derv - about £40
Wheres the £1000 there !
Sounds like some people are ripping the absolute bag out of the pricing as with gas kits.
I did a gas conversion for £300 - the local specialists wanted £1500 + VAT
Im curious...anyone know how using this oil/biodiesel fairs in terms of pollutants? Would be interesting to know whether its more/less damaging...if only on the grounds if it is more damaging its only a matter of time before the govt. kicks in some kind of carbon tax for it...
mark is right, you can do it pretty cheap, I dont know how these companies get away with changing so much for a kit....
but.... if youre only doing 100 miles a week.... thats only going to be £20 a week in fuel ? (total guess)
so its probably not worth it if you can buy some cheap bio etc...
EDIT: http://biomotors.co.uk/CarsVansM.html#Mitsubishi
according to that, the shogun 2.8 engine is single tank-able ?
try a few cans of oil from macro/bookers etc.. first and see how it goes ;)
zpyder.... its actually quite a lot better for the environment, no sulphar in it etc... veg oil is carbon nutral (because its from plants whcih are re-planted) and bio is almost nutral... tho it takes a bit of energy to convert it... another bonus is... it;s normally made from waste oil whcih has already been used in fish and chip shops etc. etc.
there used to be tak on it... 27p/litre iirc.... but all the people using it were sending in paperwork and cheques for £1.20 a time etc.. (just to piss off HMRC).... so it was costing more in admin than they were getting from the tax... and theres some old rule that no tax can be collected if it costs more to collect it than they get back in tax from it.... so its tax free..... for now
Quote from: knightyveg oil is carbon nutral (because its from plants whcih are re-planted) and bio is almost nutral... tho it takes a bit of energy to convert it... another bonus is... it;s normally made from waste oil whcih has already been used in fish and chip shops etc. etc.
Surely it would only be carbon neutral if the carbon released upon the combustion of the fuel was equal to or less than the total carbon required by the source-plant + the carbon emitted from the burning of fuels in the cultivation of these plants and the subsequent transportation and storage of the fuel. It may sound like I am being a bit fussy, but take for instance the example of palm oil, it was toted as being a green energy source, whilst peat bogs were being drained to grow the palms on. The peat bogs are massive carbon sinks and its estimated that the carbon released from the drying of these bogs is greater than the amount that would have been released if people stuck to petrol :| Not to mention the conversion of agricultural land to biofuels resulting in food shortages in some developing countries :(
well, i got the truck.
not driven it yet as I dont have insurance - my bro drove it home as he has a traders insurance policy.
everyone seems to have a different method... One friend runs his on oil, but fills up 1 in 5 with diesel.
Im guessing the best way to start is to put in some cooking with a mix of diesel? & use my own judgement?
only problem is, I know squat about cars & engines & what sounds good & what doesnt sound good!
well it should be fine on 100% veg oil most of the time... but a bit of diesel mixed in when its really cold will make it run a bit smoother/faster...
best plan would be to..... wait a week or 2 so you know what its like on diesel... then buy some new oil from asda/etc.. so that you know its good clean water free oil... and just keep mixing more in and see how it goes...
trick is never to fill it too full... that way if it starts going a bit slow youve got plenty of room to stick some diesel in ;)
Same engine as my old Delica. Loves the veggie :D
best thing to add to the oil to thin it up is unleaded petrol.
Quote from: Markbest thing to add to the oil to thin it up is unleaded petrol.
*chuckle* I used to do that with my old 1.6D Escort van many years ago. It didnt run properly unless you added a liter or so in to a full tank or Derv.