Sunflower Oil Instead Of Diesel?

[squidgelet10]

Greetings each.
I expect this question has been posed before?
I was visiting my local Bookers Wholesale depot earlier and a young guy came out with two x 20 litre containers of sunflower frying oil.
He put one of them in the boot of his car and then proceeded to pour the other one into his fuel tank via a funnel.
I asked him what it was all about, and he said he always does it and the car runs the same as when on diesel.
Is this practice safe for the car?
Is it legal?
I am naturally interested as I drive a 1990 Peugeot 406 diesel.
Be good!
Cheers.

[EDDIE51]

May be ok for a while in an old diesel but a modern 'high tech' diesel would not like it. Your 1990 Peugeot may work ok , I would think there would not be a lot of diffrence in price though , how much is 20L of cooking oil?

[HowardKennitby]

Mixing veg oil with diesel will be OK as long as you don't overdo the concentration.
Legal? No idea.

[EDDIE51]

Good link here, it is legal
http://journeytoforev...rg/biodiesel_svo.html

[Answerprancer]

You do need to check that your vehicle will run on it safely and make any necessary adjustments to the fuel delivery system.
Fuel wise, a better option would be re-cycling scrap cooking oil, ie. spent oil from (for example) a chip shop, but that does involve filtering and thinning.
As far as 'legal' is concerned - F*ck That - it's a sustainable resource and no one should be punished for that IMO - they should be rewarded, but this country's government has a vested interest in taxing fuel, re-cycled/sustainable or otherwise.
IMO if you can get your car to run on recycled/sustainable fuel, do the BEST you can to evade the 'legal' aspect by any means necessary.

[Old_Geezer]

I have heard of collecting and processing used chip shop oil before now. Have to say I've never considered running my own car on oil, I think it might need adjustments to do so without damage over time ? And anyway mine is still in warranty so it's not something I'll be trying anytime soon.

[Old_Geezer]

http://www.google.co....10lllllllllll0&aqi=g5

Lor' only knows why google links are so long !

[EDDIE51]

Intresting piece here from The Telegraph
http://www.telegraph....l-at-18p-a-litre.html

[EDDIE51]

I often work in a commercial kitchen and now we get paid for used oil a year or so back we had to pay to have it removed . That's down to biodiesel.

[EDDIE51]

I have been doing a bit of research and found this. The best crop growable in the UK for Biodiesel is Rape seed , the yellow stuff you see growing all over the place. Currently it is all used for cooking oil and food production .
If the entire oil seed crop of the UK was switched to Biodiesel it would produce just 5% of the volume of diesel needed at current levels. So 20 x the current land area presently growing oil seed rape would be needed just to produce the diesel leaving none for food use.
World wide the problem is the same , if we switch to biofuel production there will be no land available for food crops, then there is the water needed oil producing plants need large volumes of water to grow, in many areas of the world water is already a problem.
I know there are likedly to be developments that will improve yield but in essence we can not grow both food and biofuel in anywhere near the required amounts . We are going to be faced with a choice food or fuel !

[squidgelet10]

Greetings each.
I thank you all for your contribitions.
After considering your replies and speaking with my regular service mechanic I conclude that, while the use of vegetable oil would be fine in the older "clankety-clank" diesel engines, it would likely screw-up the injectors in the newer models.
My Peugeot 406 HDI is a prime example of a "no go area".
What a bloody shame!
With vegetable oil working out at around 77p a litre I could have easily afforded to get out more often BUT:
What I saved on the cost of fuel would then be spent on repairing the damage done to the engine!
Thanks to you all.
Stay good!
Cheers.

[EDDIE51]

The original diesel engines ran on powdered coal ! I think you could easily get away with 25 % veg oil in your Peugeot after all it is 23 years old hardly 'high tech'