Maroa man fuels own solution to gas prices with homemade biodiesel, Iowa lawmakers pass sweeping renewable fuels initiative

Maroa man fuels own solution to gas prices with homemade biodiesel
Herald & Review - Decatur,IL,USA
... gasoline. It's biodiesel homebrew. The cost: about 70 cents a gallon. ... His cost when using biodiesel homebrew is about $15 a week. Consulting ...

MAROA - Dayton Keyes has the alternative answer to the high cost of gasoline. It's biodiesel homebrew. The cost: about 70 cents a gallon.

The Maroa man is a Capitol police investigator for the Illinois Secretary of State in Springfield. He drives an average of 600 miles a week round-trip. His cost when using biodiesel homebrew is about $15 a week.

Consulting a book, "Biodiesel Homebrew Guide," Keyes built a reactor in his garage to convert vegetable oil into fuel for his 2002 Golf model Volkswagen. The $18 book, by Maria Alovert, contains comprehensive instructions for making, washing and testing homebrew biodiesel and some plans for building biodiesel-making equipment.

Biodiesel is a natural and renewable domestic fuel alternative for diesel engines that is made from vegetable oils, mostly soy and corn.

Keyes' reactor is based on a 50-gallon electric water heater. Methanol and potassium hydrochloride are added to the vegetable oil. The mixture is then heated to 130 degrees. The brewing takes about 3½ hours. After a washing process, the fuel, about 28 to 30 gallons in a batch, goes into a 55-gallon drying tank for two days. The fuel is nontoxic and biodegradable.

"This is the Cadillac version of the reactor," Keyes said. "You can make one for $250. My cost was about $1,000. Anyone can do this. It's as easy as baking a cake or pie. I get free vegetable oil from Maroa, from Springfield and from restaurants all around, as far away as Litchfield."

David Wetzel of Decatur advised Keyes about the vegetable oil process. Wetzel has a 1985 Volkswagen Golf diesel car that runs on straight vegetable oil instead of gasoline. His wife, Eileen, calls it the "Veggie Mobile."

"I have enough vegetable oil stocked up so that I won't have to pay a penny for gasoline until next winter," Wetzel said. "I'm also trying to get a Mercedes running. And I have a couple of 1980s Volkswagens waiting in the driveway."

"People are brainwashed into thinking we can't make our own fuel, that we have to depend on the gas station," Keyes said. "I'm writing a book on renewable resources. I'd like to get a biodiesel plant built in this area. I've talked to people who say, 'You'll never succeed.' Somebody has to try.

"One of the problems is finding a diesel car. It will run as fast as a conventional car, no problem. The engine also has fewer emissions." Keyes also has a Jeep Liberty with a diesel engine.

Keyes emphasizes: "I want people to wake up and do something instead of just complaining about the high gasoline prices. You don't need a permit to do this. I want to get the word out to everybody," he said.

Keyes put the finishing touches on his reactor in December and pumped 12 gallons of fuel in his car for the first time Dec. 21.

On Monday, Ron Ziegler came to see Keyes' reactor. Ziegler has led a group picketing two Clinton service stations.

"I'm going to build a reactor, that's for sure," Ziegler said.

Iowa lawmakers pass sweeping renewable fuels initiative
Agri News - MN,USA
... for the incentives. The state has 22 ethanol plants and three biodiesel plants with dozens on the drawing board. Nationwide, 97 ...