It’s entirely possible that making biodiesel may be a new concept to you. You might on occasion have come across one of those buses, fuelled by soy power and wondered what it was all about, or you might just have had enough of those constant ups and downs at the petrol station. Have you calculated the size of your carbon footprint yet? Each one of us is pausing to consider how we contribute in one way or the other to the threat of global warming and as we get increasingly more frustrated at the site of politicians bickering and taking no action, we must step in.

If you think that it is impossible to make biodiesel fuel safely, effectively and relatively cheaply, you are wrong. Thousands of people can testify to the fuel’s efficiency as they use it during their daily lives. It takes a little bit of application to understand the process until perfected and you do have to use some caution and common sense. However, all the materials that you need are readily available and you do not need a degree in chemistry to help you to get through it!

It’s absolutely crucial to keep in mind that you need to beware of applying any overly simplistic advice or a simply written ‘how to,’ such as the example below, and before ever attempting to produce biodiesel, you must be in possession of highly detailed information on the steps involved along with thorough, in-depth safety advice and guidelines:

Making homemade biodiesel requires you to engage in a process called transesterification. You will be using a catalyst (lye) to remove glycerine from vegetable or animal oils or fats and you will effectively be extracting the oil that you can use in your diesel engine.

The catalyst you need is basically potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide, also known as caustic soda and you also need methanol. Note that you will need to keep the lye and the methanol in water tight containers and you should be aiming to use as pure a product as you can.

Take a sturdy plastic container, insert 200 mL of methanol and add the caustic soda. All containers, including the plastic bottle should be tightly closed. Shake the container a few times until everything is dissolved.

The soy or vegetable oil needs to be heated to 130°F and poured into a blender. Add the mixture, close and blend for 30 minutes. Pour the result into a sturdy, large bottle with a tight lid. After 24 hours of settling, the glycerine, which is the darker colour, is settled on the bottom. When this is the case, extract the biodiesel, essentially the top layer into a clean jar, being careful not to get any of the glycerine layer mixed in.

Your results will need to be washed to get rid of imperfections and you basically need to add clean water to the mixture, leave to settle for three hours or more and then allow the water to drain off, ideally through a hole you have previously prepared in the bottom of your mixture container.

If everything is not clear, repeat the process, but when you are happy with the clarity, the water will have evaporated and you will have your first version of biodiesel fuel. Before you get started on your new road to discovery, get your hands on some expert safety advice – which is essential, on how to make biodiesel to an internationally accepted standard, while being safe doing it!