As gasoline becomes more expensive and the consequences of pollution become more widely known, more research is being done into alternative car fuels. One of these alternative fuels, biodiesel, can be made with household ingredients in your garage, as long as safety precautions are followed.
Put on your safety goggles and rubber gloves. Make sure the room you are using is well ventilated, as the lye and methanol are very dangerous.
Pour out 220 mL of methanol. Add 5 grams of lye. Mix them together until the lye dissolves, and you will have sodium methoxide. Use the sodium methoxide quickly for Step 3, or it will lose its potency.
Put 1 liter of vegetable oil into a pot and heat it to 130 degrees Fahrenheit. Put the sodium methoxide into a blender and add the vegetable oil when it is warm. Blend on low for 20 to 30 minutes. Do not let the mixture kick or splash. Remember, these chemicals are dangerous.
Let the mixture sit for a full day. You will see a dark substance (glycerin) at the bottom of the blender and a lighter substance (your biodiesel) at the top. Pour the biodiesel off through a filter into a plastic or glass container, leaving the glycerin in the blender.
Pour a little warm, distilled water in with the biodiesel and mix gently until you see a soapy residue forming. Turn the container over and the soapy residue will settle to the bottom. Pour it out slowly and gently, making sure not to pour out any of your biodiesel. Now you have cleaned the biodiesel.
Let the biodiesel sit for a few days. To be sure it is clean, you can filter it through coffee filters before use. Use only in diesel engines.
