The Scam on Biodiesel Engine Conversion

No, You Don't Need To Convert

I make my own biodiesel. So I get folks coming up to me to talk about it.

Usually about once a week, I get into a "healthy discussion" that has something to do with biodiesel. This week, once again the fave topic was about biodiesel engine conversion - whether it's really necessary to buy loads of fancy gizmos and hoses and all sorts of other crap to "convert" a regular diesel engine to run on biodiesel.

My answer is... NO!

Quickie Biodiesel 101

Before I get into explaining my answer, for the benefit of those folks who've heard about biodiesel (but don't really know what it is), I will provide a quickie explanation.

Biodiesel is an alternative fuel commonly made from natural biological sources (thus the "bio" prefix). Crop seed like corn, canola, rapeseed, olives, etc., all carry an oil content commonly used as the raw chemical base for making biodiesel. There is a lot of controversy about how using crop seed screws up our food chain, which I explain here. Thankfully there are some folks making biodiesel from non-food stock like palm oil, animal fat, and algae.

All ethics aside...

The diesel engine, patented by Rudolf Diesel in the 1890s, originallyran with peanut oil, a vegetable-based fuel source. Many of us know Henry Ford as an automotive pioneer. However, few of us know that he held one or two patents

As we know, soon afterwards petroleum came online as the main fuel source, and most diesel and gasoline engines were purposed to work with this. Surprisingly, little to no modification was needed to get a diesel engine to run on petroleum diesel fuel. The changes was made, and over these last several generations people have forgotten the diesel engine's more organic origins.

Beginning with the energy crisis of the 1970s, environmentally sensitive and cost-conscious individuals have pushed for the "rediscovery" of the diesel engine's ability to burn organic fuel. The rise in fossil fuel prices these last few years have led to yet another push in awareness for biodiesel.