How Do You Spell Relief (from High Fuel Prices)?

Are you anxiously awaiting the “Gas Tax Holiday” this summer? Do you cringe when you pull your RV into a gas station? Ever wish you could turn back the clock to when fuel was selling for, say... $2 a gallon?

While no one expects RVers to stop traveling completely, industry observers hint that they will stick closer to home this camping season in an effort to reduce the sting of high fuel prices. Many RV enthusiasts are giving up luxuries like eating out, or taking in a movie, so they can have more money to enjoy the RV lifestyle.

Some of our customers interested in ways to lower the cost of fuel, are asking about alternative fuels, like ethanol and biodiesel? To help them decide if these are viable options for their RV or tow vehicle, we did some research.

Ethanol

According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the U.S. Dept of Energy, the most common alternative fuel is E85 which is a blend of 85% gasoline and 15% ethanol, “which is appropriate for light-duty vehicles.” It is most commonly found in the Midwest because corn is plentiful there. Flexible-fuel (flex-fuel) vehicles can use gasoline or ethanol, or any combination of the two, however “ethanol is generally not economical as a transportation fuel.”

In our area ethanol is generally used in a 10 percent ethanol to 90 percent gasoline mixture as an oxygenating agent (cleaner burning), and the lack of a nationwide distribution system is likely to keep ethanol from widespread use for the foreseeable future.

Biodiesel

The most common sources of oil for biodiesel production in the United States are soybean oil and yellow grease (primarily, recycled cooking oil from restaurants). The EIA reports, “By several important measures biodiesel blends perform better than petroleum diesel, but its relatively high production costs... limit its commercial application.”

Bottom line: although it has some advantages (and some disadvantages) over petroleum diesel, biodiesel is not likely to save you any money at the pump.

SVO (Straight Vegetable Oil)

You may have heard stories about people with diesel engine vehicles driving up to McDonalds or Burger King, filling up with used fryer grease, and driving away. If you have a diesel motorhome or tow vehicle, you might be able to save a lot of money at the pump by using this diesel fuel alternative.

Restaurants usually pay to have the used oil hauled away, so it is generally free for the taking, but it’s a bit more involved than pulling in, filling up, and driving away. And you’ll want to do your homework, because although several companies supply the technology necessary to burn SVO, some vehicle manufacturers frown on the idea.

Background

Diesel fuel can be produced from a variety of vegetable or animal fats. Diesel engine inventor Rudolph Diesel originally used peanut oil to power his engine, and envisioned using oils from locally grown crops to supply fuel. The main problem with using vegetable oil is that at room temperature it is thicker than petroleum diesel fuel. The oil has to be thinned out for the engine’s fuel injectors to work properly.

There are two basic ways to convert SVO so that it can be used as fuel in diesel vehicles. One requires a separate fuel system to heat the oil, and the other uses a chemical additive to bring the oil to the proper viscosity (thickness).

Suppliers of SVO conversion systems point to the number of vehicles using reclaimed vegetable oil as eveidence their concept works. RVers are generally resourceful, and if you have some spare time, room for a storage tank and filtration system, and a source for oil, you might just cut your fuel costs down considerably.

Here are a few websites with information about alternative fuels:

U.S. Dept of Energy, Energy Information Administration – http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/analysispaper/biodiesel/

National Biodiesel Board http://www.biodiesel.org/buyingbiodiesel/guide/guide_consumers.shtm

Golden Fuel Systems http://www.goldenfuelsystems.com/index.php

Biofuel Basics http://www.biofuelbasics.com/index.html

Grease Hybrid http://greasehybrid.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/

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