About The Book

Considering the incredible benefits of biodiesel, it’s a wonder that we don’t see it in more widespread use, witness a proliferation of active distribution stations and hear a more vocal public relations and marketing campaign, especially in this ever-so-environmentally-conscious society. It’s not as if biodiesel is a recent invention either, as the process actually predates the invention of the diesel engine itself. Much has to do with a lack of public awareness, maybe tied to a weak lobbying movement and a lack of political capital. Mervyn Rees sets out to educate us on the wonders of biodiesel and within his book – The Secrets of Biodiesel does a lot to help put the record straight, laying out the benefits and drawbacks of this fuel alternative in very readable form.

For those who aren’t “gearheads,” environmentalists or for those who may not have a finger on the pulse, biodiesel is a product derived from vegetable oil and animal fats, a liquid fuel that can be used within compression ignition engines as an energy alternative. Biodiesel will work within regular diesel engines without any modifications or may be mixed with conventional diesel fuel in various strengths.

Biodiesel itself is the result of a chemical reaction caused by mixing vegetable oil or animal fats with methanol and using caustic soda or potassium hydroxide as a catalyst. The caustic is used to separate the methanol and glycerine before you arrive at the finished product of biodiesel fuel.

Biodiesel should be very attractive to us as, in the United States; it’s generally derived from the readily available soybean products. Many subsidies are available; you can attract tax credits and don’t forget about the feel-good factor. Biodiesel is CO2 neutral and exhibits very low sulphur rates, meaning that you’re being very kind to the environment, no small consideration as we trend toward a very carbon-aware economy.

While Herr. Diesel is credited with the invention of the diesel engine in 1893, scientists Duffy and Patrick first tinkered around with the process of “transesterification” of vegetable oil forty years prior. It’s quite sobering to think that it took more than 100 years before the benefits of biodiesel would once again start to invade our psyche, largely because our love affair with petroleum had started to wane as we came to terms with its scarcity and ultimate price.

Mervyn E. Rees is a philanthropist first and foremost, and has lived a very full life as an entrepreneur within the auto industry, promotional fields and manufacturing. During a career metamorphosis he retrained as a health professional, became a qualified psychotherapist and is now also fully trained in therapeutic practices and rehabilitation as well.

Rees has devoted the latter part of his life to helping others, and his door is always open to those with needs. He has a clear passion for the auto industry, yet a greater appreciation for environmental issues and the greater good. These admirable traits come across throughout this book, as Rees gently prods us to fully understand the potential benefits of biodiesel and how we could all live a better life, in a better place if we really tried. A full chapter is devoted to safety considerations surrounding the manufacture of biodiesel and we’re left in no uncertainty that we need to treat these chemicals and the consequent chemical reactions very carefully!

As he clearly knows his stuff very well, Rees goes into the ultimate detail when he tells us how to make biodiesel. Again liberally sprinkled with safety warnings and looking out for those of us who are too clumsy for our own good, he details how to go through a process of trying transesterification, where to get methanol, sodium hydroxide and how to mix together in appropriate quantities. Lye or sodium hydroxide/potassium hydroxide is the essential ingredient in the whole production process. The lye absorbs water from the atmosphere and must be kept in a sealed container at all times. Exposure to the atmosphere will carbonate it as well, so you need to protect this ingredient very carefully during the whole procedure.

As detailed by Rees, the process is fairly complicated, but if you are keen to try this out and looking from a broader perspective, he does go in to finite detail. Those who may take a look at the process, those lengthy chemical names and feel somewhat afraid may nevertheless take solace from the fact that he has obviously been down this road before you and errs very much on the side of caution throughout.

As we learn early on in this work, biodiesel is not very easy to find, unfortunately. There is a considerable dearth of “fuel stations” and even though you’ll often find school bus fleets and enlightened commercial vehicle operators with biodiesel vehicles (even Disney World transportation), they often use a blend/mix known as B20, for example, where 20% of the fuel is bio and the rest regular diesel oil.

The Secrets of Biodiesel is probably the most intensive book on the market related to home production of biodiesel fuel. The revolution may indeed need to start at home and through a process of awareness gradually bring market forces to bear, allowing much broader adoption of this alternative. Rees understands that this is a slow and complex process, but we learn of developments that are moving us in the right direction. For example, it is now possible to use a synthetic powder instead of water to wash the product before it can be used. Washing is required to get rid of any leftover contaminants, as this is one of the drawbacks of biodiesel – filtration being very important when you start using biodiesel in your vehicle for the first time.

It’s very interesting to compare the cost of producing biodiesel and Rees makes some good points for those entrepreneurs out there who might like to consider establishing a biodiesel plant of their own. He reasons that a small-scale entity could produce this product for somewhere in the region of $0.25 per gallon when applying the appropriate economies of scale. If you choose to go ahead and try making biodiesel for yourself, you can estimate somewhere in the region of $0.50-$0.60 per US gallon. Are you working those figures in your head yet?

Biodiesel has considerable environmental benefits and is readily available as a renewable source of fuel. It is far less toxic and through widespread adoption would certainly cut down our senseless reliance on fuels from far-off overseas countries, whose inhabitants may not really like us. Rees points out the performance benefits of using this fuel, based on widespread testing across the world and points to reduced engine wear against equal levels of performance.

Biodiesel has been shown to be one of the cleanest and most environmentally friendly fuels available today; and although there is still a similar NOx content to regular diesel (and even that can be reduced to be below that of regular diesel by careful engine timing), its lack of particulates is absolutely astounding. This is why the marine world loves it and others on the land soon realize that any spillages are quickly biodegradable, whereas the fossil fuel regular diesel is extremely slow in degrading and will contaminate sea and land for many years. Cold weather affects both biodiesel and regular diesel similarly, as they get thicker as the temperature decreases, so additives have to be added to either in this event, and petrol companies do this as a matter of course.

Due to complex market factors, biodiesel may not be as attractive from a cost proposition, retail wise. As we have said, it is rather difficult to source, but through a gradual process of awareness is gaining its ground, and in the US alone an estimated 410 million gallons per annum will be produced by the end of 2009.

Leaving you with food for thought, the author also looks into the future and anticipates the demand for oil, the issues associated with fossil fuel production and the likely need for a widespread adoption of alternatives. We are prompted to try biodiesel, so long as we pay particular attention to filtering. In case we should be worried about long-term mechanical effects, we see that a Yellowstone Park Ranger vehicle has covered almost 200,000 miles on 100% pure biodiesel…

In the final analysis, making your own biodiesel is safe, easy and very cost effective to achieve, as long as you follow the rules and take your time. By going step-by-step you will quickly understand as everything falls into place, and you will begin to discover a newly acquired skill that has the exciting potential of real economic gains for you and your family.

One thing is for sure, when you put down your copy of The Secrets of Biodiesel, you will never look at vegetable oil the same way ever again!