Living an Oil Free Life Style (Fossil Oil That is Not Food Oil)

[Geof]

For all you skeptics who say it cannot be done, here is an excerpt from an interview in the most recent "SMITHSONIAN". You can see the full text at:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people...tml?c=y&page=1

........I wanted to see if I could reduce my oil and carbon footprint but still enjoy the amenities that we expect as Americans. In other words, to continue driving a motorized vehicle and have power at my house—not live like a total Grizzly Adams. Can I enjoy Netflix and the Internet without fossil fuels?

Can the average working person live off the grid?
Yes. Anybody can live an almost totally oil-free lifestyle. If your vehicle has a diesel engine, you can convert it to run on waste vegetable oil from restaurants. That's what I did for my ROAT, my Ridiculously Oversized American Truck. Solar power is totally feasible. Growing your own food takes an hour or two a day. But I would suggest that if one doesn't have an hour or two to work on one's life, one might be too busy.......

[xyzdonna]

Hi Geof,
I wonder if an acre of land would be sufficient to grow enough bio-diesel to run a vehicle for a year. Say 20 MPG for your ROAT / 12,000 = 600 GPyear. Yep, all you'd need is an acre of ground and that would provide enough fuel to run your truck for a year.
Not too bad.
Take care,
xyzdonna

[martinw]

Dear Geof,

OK, I'll be a party-pooper..

1) 41 acres is a bit of a larger spread that most of the world's inhabitants are likely to have at their disposal.

2) New Mexico is blessed by solar radiation. You may need a few acres.

3) Most of the world does not have a plentiful supply of fast food outlets, in the back yard, from which to harvest vegetable oil for their trucks.

I'm being unkind, It is a step in the right direction, I suppose.

Sorry.

Best wishes,

Martin

[Geof]

Originally Posted by martinw ....OK, I'll be a party-pooper....Sorry. Best wishes, Martin

You disbeliever.

[BobWarfield]

Martin hasn't even dropped the biggest bomb given where this is posted: biodiesel still emits tons of greenhouse gasses.

We have biodiesel all over Santa Cruz where I live. It's quite entertaining to get behind one in traffic. They're usually older Volvo and Mercedes diesel cars that were converted. And they smell like french fries. I kid you not. If there's much of it going on, buy McDonald's stock because it gives you the munchies!

It's gonna take a lotta pebble bed nuclear reactors, fellas.

Cheers,

BW

[Geof]

Originally Posted by BobWarfield Martin hasn't even dropped the biggest bomb given where this is posted: biodiesel still emits tons of greenhouse gasses....... .......It's gonna take a lotta pebble bed nuclear reactors, fellas. Cheers, BW

But the CO2 produced using biodiesel is no greater than the CO2 absorbed by the plants that grew and ultimately became the biodiesel' so there is no NET CO2 production. Therefore Biodiesel is "Green"!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes; 'lotta' is at least thre figures.

[martinw]

Dear Bob,

Yikes, I never even considered the ghastly smell of all that clapped-out McD frying oil.

I suppose while tooling around your 41 acres of New Mexico, in the Green Truck, the stink might get dispersed.

Best wishes,

Martin

[Geof]

Until you park it overnight and the temperature drops to -15C and your fuel turns into gum like all those buses in Jolly Old Blighty.

[martinw]

Originally Posted by Geof Until you park it overnight and the temperature drops to -15C and your fuel turns into gum like all those buses in Jolly Old Blighty.

Dear Geof,

This will be a problem. Although larger diesel fuel tanks tend to have heaters these days ( those smart engineers have anticipated "Global Cooling" ), what is going to power them?

My guess..grid-supply nuclear power.

Best wishes,

Martin

[Geof]

Originally Posted by martinw Dear Geof, This will be a problem. Although larger diesel fuel tanks tend to have heaters these days ( those smart engineers have anticipated "Global Cooling" ), what is going to power them? My guess..grid-supply nuclear power. Best wishes, Martin

Allopw me to be pedantic; after all I do it so well.

(I should comment my only failing is overweaning modesty)

The term 'biodiesel' is thrown around rather loosely.

It is possible to run a diesel engine on straight cooking oil, fat, drippings, whatever you cal it; provided you keep whatever it is above its melting point...and filter out the fragments of French Fries.

But you have to keep things warm; over here you can buy kits that heat a supplementary fuel tank and the fuel lines to make this possible. However, you still have to start on straight diesel and switch to straight diesel before shutting the engine down.

This is because the cooking oil/fat is a triglyceride that has tends to solidify at around room temp. If you don't know what a triglyceride is, tough.

It is possible to take waste cooking oil and do a trans-esterification reaction to turn it into, more or less, the same structure as regular diesel oil.

Regarding the heaters on large diesel fuel tanks; the 'smart engineers' are also smart economists. Diesel comes in many flavours, for vehicle fuel that will be used at low temperatures the preferred flavor has a low paraffin content; paraffins are waxes that solidify at 0 C or below. This means that high paraffin diesel does not have much market for vehicle fuel and is available at a lower cost; if you install heated tanks you can utilize a cheaper fuel.

And what will fuel the heaters? Well, even with the most efficient diesel installation 60% of your energy is lost as heat; more than enough to keep your fuel tanks warm. More than enough to heat all the surrounding buildings if things were designed correctly.

[ImanCarrot]

Just remember that if you're in the UK and use stuff like that to power your vehicle you have to account for every litre you use and pay the Customs and Excise (tax) man.. I kid you not... google it on UK

[fizzissist]

Originally Posted by ImanCarrot Just remember that if you're in the UK and use stuff like that to power your vehicle you have to account for every litre you use and pay the Customs and Excise (tax) man.. I kid you not... google it on UK

Since you brought up the UK, vehicle power, and tax....this might be of interest:

Biofuels: Fields of dreams
We can run our cars on corn, sugar cane or wheat: limitless cheap energy grown on our doorstep. But are biofuels the answer to exhausted oil wells or just another nightmare scenario?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...=1205102781064