h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Someone should inform the hauliers of this article when they go for that demonstration in Hyde Park this weekend. Iw would save them a fortune and would be one in the eye for Tony's Cronies

I heard that Greenpeace have got a bio-diesel-powered lorry travelling side by side with the hauliers and trying to convince them of its benefits.

I think the problem comes in when someone tries to tell Shell etc that the billions of pounds they have been spending to fetch oil from the North Sea is a waste of money...

I'm not sure it would benefit the hauliers at all. Unbelievably it's subject to same fuel tax as normal diesel. Apparently there is a commercial producer of the stuff based in Hull (UK).

The same problems of tax in the UK apply to producing petrol/gasoline by fermenting organic stuff then distilling it. I am convinced that the major oil companies have a vested interest in persuading the government to keep taxes high on products that are not likely to make them vast profits!

Various articles tell of how to prepare rapeseed oil for use in diesel engines but it can be used at a ratio of 20% to 25% in an unmodified form. In Tesco (the cheapest) it can be purchased for £1.11 per £ litres and added to the fuel tank before topping up with diesel. Also, well filtered used cooking oil can be disposed in the same way. The environmental benefits are; not putting used oil in the rubbish bin and much reduced emmisions from the exhaust.Modern low sulphur fuels have, I have been told, reduced ammounts of upper cylinder lubricants. The veggy oil replaces this. A couple of litres of unleaded petrol once a month in a tank of diesel cleans out any build up of deposits. This also eliminates the need for the use of propritary system cleaners which are very expensive.

I'm interested in the idea of using waste cooking oil and growing oil plants as a way of producing fuel. Am I right in thinking that unlike underground oil based diesel, bio diesel does not add to the Carbon in circulation, just recycles it?

If oil based plants, linseed, rape seed etc are used, how many litres can a hectare/acre/sq mtr produce?