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In 2001, two brothers, Hal and Geoffrey Hewett, embarked on an epic coast-to-coast journey in a 1964 diesel bus, and filmed the ensuing escapades.
The resulting film, “Huge Bus Now” [available at the VIPIRG library, or for rent at Yo! Video on Fort and Foul Bay], declares that the Brothers Hewett “didn’t spend a dime on fuel or food, but spent thousands on booze and cigarettes”. Instead, they relied on the art of dumpster diving. Diving for food is becoming a fairly commonplace method of procuring food these days, but diving for fuel is still a rare occurrence (although both are now firmly on the crime radar). “It’s not about what’s right”, comments Hal wryly. “It’s about what’s left.” Huge Bus Now is a remarkable film in that it is eminently watchable, although it is as unstaged as a film can possibly be in this age of contrived, fake ‘mockumentaries’. [Note the scene where a bunch of Montrealers charter the bus to a rave!]
Biodiesel has become quite the buzzword these days, for both moderate environmentalists, green entrepreneurs, and populist governments, so you have probably already learnt that diesel engines can run on vegetable oil. I learnt about it back in that summer of 2001, when Hal was finishing up his restoration of the bus, christened ‘Scrnge’.
“The diesel engine was originally designed to run on vegetable oil”, Hal informed me. “When Dr. Rudolph Diesel first publicly presented his invention at the 1900 World Fair in Paris, he ran it on peanut oil.”
“Uh-huh”, I replied absent-mindedly, not really soaking up this revelation, nor quite believing it. He went on about this form of renewable fuel being ‘carbon-neutral’, and so not contributing to global warming and climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions.
It did, however, soak in the following summer, when my Toyota Corolla exploded over Lake Superior, an area I now consider the Bermuda Triangle of the Trans-Canada Highway. The band I was touring with had to purchase a crappy Dodge Van, which didn’t pass inspection upon arrival back home in BC, so I was without vehicle (I can almost hear the rejoicing from many of you!).
The next year, in the summer of 2003, the revised version of the band embarked upon yet another tour, this time in the bass player’s gasoline-powered VW van. It died less than 60 km’s away from where my Toyota exploded (I now know why there are so many used car lots in Thunder Bay).
Besides the issue of gasoline vehicles dying, the band had never made a cent on these tours, because the fuel costs ate up any revenues that were earned. Since I basically bankrolled the tours, and tried to make it up on performance fees, CDs and the “Veronica Tangent” panties we sold, the idea of free fuel in the form of used cooking oil gradually became more and more intriguing. And I was also being influenced by our nineteen-year-old drummer, who was embracing the anarchist rhetoric and calling our musical venture a ‘business band’ (and me ‘bourgeois’). He was right in a way, and he mostly put his money where his mouth is (mostly by stealing food for the band) but he also brought home a lot of truths about the progressive movement. The movement predominantly consists of critics, and the activist contingent often utilizes the same win-lose, zero-sum-game tactics of the institutions it stands opposed to.
Then, in January 2004, I got a call to be a “special extra” in what is most probably one of the worst movies ever made, but I made $2500 in 4 days, so I could suddenly afford a diesel vehicle! I bought the excellent publication, Buy, Sell & Trade (not to be confused with the execrable Buy & Sell), and found a decent used diesel pickup truck. I liked this vehicle because it already had two fuel tanks, which is a mandatory feature of using vegetable oil as fuel. To use vegetable oil in a diesel engine, you start up on diesel or biodiesel (more about which later), and when the engine is warm, you switch to the veggie tank. A fuel line heater is a good idea, too, and is mandatory in colder climates with freezing winters.
I still remember the thrill of finding a good source of oil (the restaurant owner was more than happy to have someone get rid of his waste problem for free), and filtering it in a primitive drip method, filling up the front fuel tank with my veggie oil, and then starting up for my first veggie oil test drive. After driving for five minutes, I nervously flicked the switch and changed over to veggie oil. I was expecting there to be problems, like hard running or stalling, but no, the engine ran just as smooth, and slowly a faint wisp of tempura aroma was evident. Thus began the second stage of my political awakening.
THE first stage to my political awakening occurred years ago when I read “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”. I was profoundly moved by Malcolm’s eloquently candid description of the inner self-hatred that we, the coloured people of North America, acquire in a brutal society based on racist colonization. Being half Asian, I bitterly remembered myself as a young teenager wishing (by any means necessary) that I was ‘all-white’. Since reading that book, I have come to find much strength in being and identifying myself as a non-white person, and I am still uncomfortable when people deny this and tell me “you’re not ‘non-white’”.
This first awakening resulted in a lot of anger, accompanied by the reciprocate (and expected) anti-social behaviour. It also resulted in a pervasive feeling of isolation, inner conflict, contradicted by the desire to ‘belong’ somewhere. I wanted to be independent, and self-reliant, but I felt trapped by my lack of real life skills and totally dependent on the materialistic relationships of middle class society.
This second stage for me is all about fostering healthy human relationships and achieving personal growth through positive action and meaningful work. Instead of criticizing the petroleum cartels, as I used to do, now I simply boycott them and make my own fuel.
DESPITE the fact that biofuels receive criticism from both the radical right and left, I remain a staunch supporter of this form of alternative energy. The right criticizes biodiesel for “not being able to supply all our energy needs” and for being “too easy to make”, and therefore “almost impossible to regulate and control” as a commercial commodity. The left criticizes it for using up precious topsoil, and potentially causing the starvation of multitudes of the world’s population because agri-business may grow fuel instead of food.
Recently, Janine Bancroft made a passionate plea on CFUV’s ‘Gorilla Radio’, to the effect that alternative energy should be controlled by government, and not the private sector (Yikes! And I thought she was an anarchist?).
Although I share Janine’s distrust of corporate big business, I have an equal distrust of many aspects of the political process and discourse in Canada. The beauty of biodiesel (AND THIS IS THE CLINKER) is that it really is impossible to regulate, because virtually anybody can make this most low-tech of fuels, almost anywhere (ok, not on the sidewalk in front of the fire station!) with free, scavenged parts and only dimes per litre for the necessary but widely available chemicals. All you anarchists and progressives out there take this to heart: energy is controlled by cartels because historically the general public did not possess the resources or knowledge to create fuel. But biodiesel allows the individual to immediately boycott the petroleum industry, right now.
The Canadian government is currently being lobbied by big business to regulate biodiesel. “Developing A Canadian Biodiesel Industry” was submitted to high-profile ministers like David Emerson, Ujjal Dosanjh, Ralph Goodale, John Godfrey and Stephen Owen in November 2005. It was the brainchild of Canadian Bioenergy Corporation, a large North Vancouver biodiesel company closely associated with the petroleum refinery business, and calls for government to “establish a Federal registration and certification program for all biodiesel producers [and] importers to guarantee all biodiesel into the Canadian petroleum fuel distribution system meets the accepted North American quality standard, ASTM D6751”. It is conceivable that this may provoke the Federal government to create legislation specifically prohibiting individuals from making biodiesel (currently one only has to worry about fire regulations concerning methyl hydrate and lye, the two necessary chemicals, but if their use passes current fire and safety regulations, you are fine) or using homemade fuel. It will probably be similar to the prohibition of cannabis. It may be outlawed, but people will continue to make it anyways.
The biggest threat to the individual biodiesel producer is that methyl hydrate (methanol) will become a totally restricted item. ‘Methwatch’ is a ‘community volunteer group’ who educate methanol retailers about the deadly drug crystal meth (the production of which uses methanol as well), and urge them to monitor purchasers of methanol. I’ve come to hate crystal meth producers; not only are they inflicting a dangerous substance on people (methanol ingestion will kill you, eventually), but they may inadvertently be responsible for methanol becoming impossible to procure legally.
Personally, I would rather not have to worry about biodiesel production becoming a criminal activity, so I am all for the development of biodiesel co-ops. With the co-op model, individual producers and users can pay the appropriate road tax and through tax payment become a legitimate lobby (really a ‘citizen advocacy’ group in the true sense) to counter that of the big energy and agri-business lobbies.
There are two issues of concern to all 6,000,000,000-plus human beings on the planet, not to mention our animal kin and plant co-habitants. These are the potential catastrophes known as the Greenhouse Effect and the End of Petroleum.
You are all probably familiar with the theory known as the Greenhouse Effect, and which is felt to be valid by almost all credible scientists across the globe. Here is a brief (and probably not very accurate) recap:
The planet Earth contains a finite number of elements in, on and over her. She has structured these elements into two forms of life, plant and animal. She has created a marvelous balance between these two forms; plants utilize the energy from the sun and create complex molecules, which animals consume and excrete back to the plants.
Further, the respiration of these two forms works in a perfect balance: the plants convert the carbon dioxide in the air, and extract the carbon from this gas, and release the oxygen back into the air. The animals breathe in the air and extract the oxygen into their blood, which is then used for the combustion of plant carbon and the release of the solar energy contained therein. Animals then exhale the carbon dioxide that results from this combustion.
This perfect balance existed for a long, long time. Up until the mass extinction at the end of the age of dinosaurs, vast amounts of animals and plants were swallowed up by the Earth, and over these hundreds of millions of years were turned into a liquid fossil mass, called petroleum. This was a gradual process, and Earth continued to balance the respiratory cycle between plants and animals.
But in the mid-1800’s, people discovered petroleum, and realized it could provide the much needed fuel for the increasingly sophisticated and powerful machines and engines being developed. It was considered a godsend; free fuel spewing out of the earth!
In the ensuing century and a half, people have managed to combust billions and billions and billions of litres of petroleum, and the combustion rate continues to increase. This huge release of carbon dioxide into our biosphere (hundreds of millions of years worth, in 150 years!) has resulted in a distinct imbalance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide rises in the air, and ends up in the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere, which protects Earth’s surface from the sun’s deadly ultraviolet rays. Carbon dioxide destroys ozone, so the excessive amount is destroying this crucial defense line.
Further, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere continues to increase, and acts like a greenhouse: it lets the sun’s light energy in, but does not let the heat out. The result is that the temperatures found on Earth’s surface are rising at an alarming rate, and causing terrible natural disasters all over the globe (the Asian Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina are the most notable recent examples).
The use of a renewable fuel can be a way of not contributing to the greenhouse effect. But the user has to carefully research these alternative technologies. For instance, how much fossil-fuel energy goes into the production of a hydrogen or solar cell? What about the toxic waste? Is the motivation for these technologies environmental concern or simple profit gain, and does this influence the carbon-neutrality of the technology’s end use?
Almost as frightening as climate change is the impending reality of the End of Petroleum. This inevitable occurrence will be disastrous for the human race unless we start preparing for it now.
The most crucial aspects of the End of Petroleum are the production and distribution of food. For although most people agree that the issue of hunger today is mainly a distribution problem, the End of Petroleum will result in a production problem as well.
Agriculture used to employ the vast majority of the population. But soon after the petro-revolution, enough food to feed the entire planet could be grown by a relatively small minority. The growth in petro-technology resulted in a burgeoning need for factory workers, to make all the engines, furnaces and what-not that this new age required.
The results were impressive: birth survival rates increased like never before, food and goods could be shipped almost anywhere in the world with great speed, and global communication increased. The northern countries of Europe and Canada prospered immensely, as petroleum became a cheap heating fuel, now that cities no longer had wood readily available. Needless to say, the human population rose exponentially, and people and governments had not only an excess of leisure time and revenue, but also extra resources to research disease and other societal problems.
Petroleum use in the agriculture industry is not limited to tractors and other farm machinery. It is also the reason that our agri-business farms can operate as a competitive, corporate business on the stock exchange.
Over 90% of Canadian food comes from agri-business. These farms are actually food factories, and bear no relation to the mythical farms of Canada’s past heritage: family farms representing hope and a nourishing society. Instead, these factories are all business, and are run by well-groomed CEO’s hundreds of miles away in corporate boardrooms intent on increasing shareholder return-on-investment in this globally competitive world. I won’t go into the atrocities inflicted on animals in these factories here.
But back to the production of grain, vegetable and fruit (which have always been the staples of life); these crops could not be grown at the current rate without the extensive use of petroleum products. Pesticides, herbicides and fungicides keep pests at bay, increasing profit, and petroleum fertilizers are used to keep the topsoil alive. Remember when farmers had to keep a field fallow so as to let the nitrogen and other nutrients rebuild? This technique is almost obsolete in the modern world of corporate agri-business, although occasionally farmers still let fields lie fallow when government pays them to, so that the crop in question will not over-saturate the market and go bust on the commodity trading exchange.
Without petroleum, food will simply not be able to be grown at the quantities necessary to feed the world’s population, as the system is set right now, let alone get the food to the people. Much investigation should be given to the way Cuba has dealt with the food industry. In Cuba, almost all gardens and plant beds grow food. Most neighbourhood parks contain food crops as well. And they are all organic produce.
The inevitable End of Oil may not occur in our lifetime, or our children’s, or even our grandchildren’s lifetime. But what is sure is it will eventually happen, and the world will no longer be able to sustain over six billion people. I only hope that by then the population will be greatly decreased, and that alternative technologies and infrastructures will exist to help human civilization meet the challenge of a world beyond petroleum.
How to Make Biodiesel
Biodiesel is a safe, renewable, cleaner-burning alternative to petro-diesel that lowers emissions. It is more biodegradable than sugar and ten times less toxic than table salt.
Biodiesel is the popular moniker for mono alkyl esters. These esters are produced by ‘cracking’ the glycerin content out of vegetable oil and animal fats, through a process called ‘transesterification’. It is similar to soap-making (saponification), but uses (most commonly) methanol, or (less commonly) ethanol, mixed with the lye (sodium- or potassium hydroxide) as the alkaline catalyst.
Vegetable oil, at the molecular level, consists of three fatty acid chains held together by a glycerin molecule (glycerin is actually an alcohol, and is also called glycerol). Used oil can have many broken chains, so there will be mono- and di-glycerides present. These mono- and di-glycerides make the oil more acidic, so greater amounts of lye, the alkaline catalyst, are required for a full reaction. Too much lye, however, may result in the formation of a ‘glop’ soap that is a real drag to deal with. The amount of methanol used is usually between 15-20% to the volume of oil. Some methanol will replace the glycerin (somewhere between 5-12%), and the excess helps ‘push’ the reaction to completion.
There are many recipes for making biodiesel available free of charge on the internet. Personally, I recommend the site www.journeytoforever.org for really thorough information and discussions (although the site owner, Keith Addison, possesses a rather anal-retentive and annoying ‘I-told-you-so’ personality).
Warning:
Biodiesel production requires two common but dangerous chemicals, methanol (methyl hydrate in Canada) and lye (sodium hydroxide). Further, these two substances are combined to create an even more dangerous substance, sodium methoxide (it will burn your skin, kill you if you swallow enough, and emits dangerous fumes). You will need a well-ventilated workspace, protective gloves, clothing and eyewear, and lots of common sense and practice. Take full safety precautions and always remember you are dealing with dangerous chemicals. Never allow children or animals around the workspace. Label all containers and store them in safe places.
Disclaimer:
I assume no liability for any harm and/or damage which may occur due to information contained in this article. It is meant for educational purposes only. Anybody using the information contained herein does so at their own risk.
Making a Test Batch of Biodiesel:
Because of the dangerous chemicals and the potential for the reaction to become ‘glop’ instead of biodiesel, it is best to become proficient at making small test batches first. Here is a common recipe, usually called “The World Famous Dr. Pepper Method”:
Ingredients:
1 litre used vegetable oil
150-200 mL’s methyl hydrate
4-7 grams of lye
Equipment:
A sealed glass or HDPE plastic bottle with tightly fitting lid for the methyl hydrate/lye
A 2 litre pop bottle with tightly fitting lid (HDPE plastic is best – use PET plastic bottles with caution)
Scale accurate to 0.1 grams (or a measuring teaspoon, never to be used for food again)
Small funnel
Protective gloves, eyewear and clothing
Rags for spills, newspaper or tarp to protect floors or counters, and vinegar for emergencies
If you’re going to use virgin, unused vegetable oil, you need 3.5 grams of lye per litre of oil. But for used oil, to find out exactly how much lye is needed requires a titration to be performed, which complicates the procedure somewhat. This is important when you make larger batches of biodiesel. For your first batch with used oil, just try 6 grams.
The Process:
1. Add 6 grams of lye to your methyl hydrate, in a beaker or a bottle with a tightly fitting lid. Do not breathe any fumes! You will need a scale accurate down to 0.1 grams; in the absence of an accurate scale, you could try one teaspoon of lye - very roughly about 6 grams of lye - but I offer no guarantee of success with this inaccurate method of measurement! And be sure to never use the teaspoon for food again.
2. Seal this container with a tightly fitting lid and shake for several minutes. If your container is transparent, look to see if all the lye is dissolved.
3. When the lye has totally dissolved in the methyl hydrate, you have made methoxide. [This substance is poisonous - even its fumes are harmful!- and highly caustic. Be careful!]. Add the methoxide to your litre of oil [in a 2 litre pop bottle], using a small funnel that will never be used for food again.
4. Tightly close the lid and shake vigorously for a minute or so. Make sure the lid is not leaking. Let stand for a few minutes and shake for a minute again. Repeat one or two more times.
5. Let stand for an hour. If your bottle is transparent you can observe the reaction. The mixture should be cloudy at first, and slowly as you let it stand, it should start to clear, with two distinct layers appearing; a smaller, dark layer on the bottom, and a lighter, larger, clearer layer on top.
The top layer is the biodiesel, or methyl esters (usually 85-95% by volume), and the bottom layer is the glycerin (usually 5-15% by volume). It is almost impossible to remove 100% of the glycerin from the oil, but the commercial standard (from the ASTM D6751 test) calls for about 97% of the glycerin to be removed. Also required for the ASTM standard is that the minute amount of the reactant (methyl hydrate and lye) left in the biodiesel be removed. This is usually performed with a simple water wash, which does increase the amount of time necessary to produce biodiesel, however.
You can find more information on making small test batches of biodiesel by searching for “biodiesel the dr. pepper method” on the internet. Become proficient at making small test batches before you attempt larger, more meaningful batches of biodiesel.
If you have any questions, or would like to discuss biodiesel further, please do not hesitate to contact me at:
I hope this article has proved useful.
Sincerely,
Kenji Fuse