No Brainer of the Day: Making biodiesel at home is dangerous
While fuel prices are nothing like they were last summer (but they are climbing), there are still plenty of reasons to want to make your own biodiesel. Homebrew biodieselers are, on the whole, a careful bunch and there are plenty of classes available to make sure your mixing of vegetable fat, lye and methanol goes smoothly. Not everyone does it right every time, though, and The Associated Press has found a few incidents of biodiesel makers setting garages and backyards on fire in at least five states (Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts, and Oregon). These fires have not caused any deaths, yet, but at least one home was destroyed – and rebuilding must cost way more, environmentally and financially, than was saved by going bio.There are few laws against making biodiesel at home, but more might be coming. In Phoenix, Arizona, for example, you need to be on a property that is at least one acre so you're not endangering a lot of neighbors. Just a reminder to be careful out there.
[Source: The Associated Press]
Photo by Eddi 07. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jharlan 12:30AM (5/25/2009)
I guess they are trying to make sure everyone stays dependent on big oil and the government. By the way, diesel is not very volatile and probably the safest fuel you could possibly dead with.
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Sebastian 11:56AM (5/27/2009)
that's one ironic typo right there
Matt 11:18PM (5/24/2009)
Warning: The Surgeon General Has Determined that Cigarette Smoking is Dangerous to Your Health... especially when you're home brewing bio diesel.
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Rain 11:37PM (5/24/2009)
Use an Electric Hot Water Heater on a Timer.
Cheap and easy to configure and plumb.
Think first,think Safety!
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Zeph 6:06AM (5/25/2009)
This is not about safety, this is about control. But by now most people already know that. What next, a banning of in house gas installations? A banninof electricity? A ban on cooking? How about a ban on magnifying glasses?
Monopoly interests are so transparent these days, yet there will always be a silly politician legislating based on them.
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Tim 9:19AM (5/25/2009)
I wonder how many people are injured by slipping in the tub each year?
How about falling out of a 2nd story window?
Or maybe getting run over by their own lawnmower?
Now we know why newspapers are going bankrupt!
I just don't know why Obama wants to bail them out too...
(payback?)
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Matt 9:37PM (5/25/2009)
Or, how many house fires are caused by people cooking popcorn, or watching a movie on an old TV set or drying their hair... and of THOSE how many resulted in deaths. I'll bet it's more than zero.
Steve-O 7:52AM (5/26/2009)
Absolutely, this is about control. No grass roots, evnironmentally sound self sufficiency allowed here in the USA!
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Russ Finley 10:25AM (5/26/2009)
Got a chuckle out of me, jharlan:
"...diesel is ...probably the safest fuel you could possibly dead with...."
I'm just glad people aren't making moonshine in their garages as well. Check out this ethanol fire:
http://biodiversivist.blogspot.com/2009/05/ladies-and-gentlemen-start-your-engines.html
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Rain 1:23PM (5/26/2009)
I have to agree with the early posters that this is about cornering the oil monopoly and not about safety.
Remember all those Mr.Coffee fires thirty years ago?,They never did get around to banning automatic coffee makers and then the problem reared its ugly head again
when an old woman sued McDonalds over scalding her thighs and genitals.
The problem was a thermal limiter that cost .07 cents made by General Electric which failed in the circuit closed mode allowing the heating element to continue heating regardless of temperature.
Remember the Barbie Jeeps setting houses on fire,No?
There was a very hush-hush recall and the culprit was electrolysis on the charge plug causing the plastic vehicle to burn.
Neither of these events led to the banning of a product or practice.
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paskalex 4:07AM (5/27/2009)
If you look, there is no fire will not happen. Just need to comply with the rules of fire safety. Readers of my blog PASKALEX: Biodiesel News (http://paskalex.blogspot.com/) to comply with these rules.
Alexey, Ukraine
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