How much money can I save by making biodiesel? Your immediate savings per gallon will be approximately $2.75 - $3.75 (typical petroleum diesel cost) minus the $0.50 - $0.90 cost to make your own biodiesel. When multiplied by your monthly consumption, you will know how many weeks or months it takes to recoup your investment in a FuelMeister II or FuelMeister II Dual biodiesel processor. If you are collecting used fryer oil from 6 restaurants and each one averages a 55 gallon drum of oil per month, you can make 330 gallons of fuel per month, 3960 per year. If you save $2.00 per gallon you will save $7920 per year.
How much will the supplies cost and where can I get them? Used liquid cooking oil is widely available for little or no cost from your local restaurants. Some of our customers also buy vegetable oil in large quantities directly from makers of new oil or produce their own oil using oil seed crops. Azure Biodiesel Company now sells oil expeller presses. Call or email for an info packet. You want oil that is liquid at room temperature when new. Racing methanol is around $3.00 - $4.25 per gallon, but you only need 6 to 8 gallons to make 40 gallons of biodiesel. Lye is about $3/lb. at the hardware or grocery store, but closer to $1.50/lb. in 50lb. bulk bags. You need about 1.5 - 2.5 lbs/40 gal. Methanol can be purchased from chemical supply companies, racing suppliers, bulk oil suppliers and even farmer's co-ops. Lye is commonly known as caustic soda or Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) and can be purchased as Red Devil Lye or in bulk bags from chemical supply companies. Use beaded, pearl or granular, avoid liquid and flakes. You can also use Potassium Hydroxide (KOH), which usually comes in flakes. Azure Biodiesel Company stocks and sells methanol and bulk lye at our Sully, Iowa and West Alexander, PA locations and lye only in Eau Claire, WI. Call for prices or see the order form.
How much biodiesel can the FuelMeister II(tm) produce? Making only 2-3 40 gallon batches per week, the FuelMeister II(tm) can easily produce 320-480 gallons of ready-to-use biodiesel every month. You can make up to 80 gallons of biodiesel per day with your FuelMeister II and that adds up to 2400 per month! You can also add one or more Expansion tanks (FuelMeister II Dual) to greatly increase your biodiesel production capacity.
What other ways can you use biodiesel? In most cases, you can safely use up to 100% biodiesel in any device which currently uses #2 petroleum diesel. This includes cars, trucks, generators, tractors, and even home heating oil furnaces and water heaters. Many biodiesel users have been using B100 (100% biodiesel) for several years.
Who else do you know could use some biodiesel? Think about your friends, neighbors, relatives and other diesel users that you know. They will probably be very interested in how you've cut your diesel and/or fuel oil costs and may want to participate with you in making biodiesel. Often you can "co-op" together with others to purchase your FuelMeister II, collect the oil, purchase the methanol and lye, and do the actual processing.
How should I treat my time in making biodiesel? Most people who make biodiesel treat their own production time as a hobby, much like making beer or wine at home for personal consumption. Making biodiesel with the FuelMeister II is a simple process that anyone can master quickly.
