Unless you're planning on brewing your own, I would say it's a bad idea. I have travelled the nation in a diesel 1 ton for two years and have only happened across two stations that sold biodiesel. If you're planning on buying a diesel, you might want to wait awhile to see if the price of conventional diesel comes down. I believe it will but I don't know that I would be willing to make a $20,000+ bet on it at this time. Diesel is a good choice for a tow vehicle but this might not be the right time to buy one if you don't have a crystal ball....Happy trails.....
John, the only reason it even occurred to me that it might be possible, is that I found a list of biodiesel retail stations at biodiesel.org. There are retail stations in every state but OK and AK. They have a map as well as addresses and phone numbers.
I found it interesting that on that site, they state that all the regulatory hurdles to biodiesel going public have been met as of last month, and that they expect a sharp increase in retail outlets, now that this has been accomplished.
I was surprised to learn that some of the mechanical conversion issues have been resolved by the new processing standards, so that it is not as big a deal as it once was to convert to 100% biodiesel. They suggest upgrading your fuel pump and fuel lines to more biodiesel resistant ones, and to check your fuel filter after you first start using biodiesel, due to the solvent effect of biodiesel on engine deposits accumulating after regular diesel use.
I have to agree, I haven't seen many biodiesel stations and diesel is expensive. I love my pickup though and it does a great job of towing my camper. There are also places that don't work on diesel vehilces so that's something else to think about as you're traveling.
I have to agree with John and he knows what he is talking about. We have a gas rig and we can't even use the E85 we phoned Ford and we thought we might be able to use it in our Ford Sports Track but NOT!! Changing things over would cost you more that it is worth.
What we have done is stayed in places longer and we have seen sites we have never seen before. I don't look for gas or diesel to go down to where it was even 2 years ago. So I guess if you are going to travel or Full Time RV you will have to grin and bare the prices of fuel.
One thing to we have seen more work campers this past year than a before and we have been full timing it for 10 years going on year number 11.
I appreciate all your advice, guys, but I guess you all already have plenty of adventure in your lives. What I heard from you is that it wouldn't be worth the hassle to you, to try to do something like this.
I ran across a guy in ABQ, online, who did a diesel conversion for very little money, really, starting last year. He has his own processing plant, on a trailer, which fits into his garage. He uses recycled restaurant fry oil. There is a biodiesel co-op here with a retail station as well, so I'm getting closer to hands-on experience here.
Hmmm, I wonder if there is such a thing as maybe a grant, either state or federal funded, that would finance a demonstration project? I wonder how much money, and how many people it would take to pull that off?
Here's an interesting blog on going cross-country on biodiesel.
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Wow, Techie! Cool blog! Although they seem to be doing it the hard way, with an old International Scout, and forgetting to clean out the crud from using regular diesel for years, and going without replacing fuel lines that biodiesel will destroy. It points out the value of being prepared when you try something new.
I hope when they get done, CNN will run like a 30 minute special on their trip.
Be sure to tune in 9:40 a.m. on CNN.com Live to see how they're doing.
Oops, missed it, Techie! I had a bad night and wasn't out of bed yet. Is this an ongoing thing? Maybe tomorrow.
Sunnyside, here's a link with videos from their biodiesel trip. Right hand column called 'Cody's Big Biofuel Adventure'.
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