With cars performing perfectly, combined with the pleasure of sticking it to 'the man', it is no wonder that Gordon Elliott in Leigh, near Bolton has joined the increasing number of people making their own bio-diesel.
Elliott says, "It's the principle. I do it for the environment and to spite the exchequer."
Collecting a barrel of waste cooking oil from the Hare and Hounds pub in Cheshire, Elliott's oil is ready to be used in the families' diesel cars 24 hours later, and costs just 15p per litre. Instead of paying £1.25 a litre at his local supermarket, he says he is saving nearly £100 a month, on top of 90% of the greenhouse gases he would emit if normal diesel were used. Equipment for purifying, filtering and refining has to be purchased first, but this will pay for itself within a year.
Companies making these biodiesel 'reactors' have reported booming sales, with David Taylor of Ecotec Resources, the Lancashire company which sold Elliott his machine, remarking that, "Our business has doubled in size in just the last six months." He is selling 15-20 biodiesel machines a week and has sold 800 in under a year to taxi firms, hauliers, restaurants and others.
Seen as revenge of the little man on authorities and the government, James Hygate, a director of GreenFuels has also noticed an increase in interest in DIY diesel. "We've noticed a surge of people driving company cars. They are making their own and then claiming 45p a mile from their firms."
Whilst most are working legally, some criminals have noticed a money-making opportunity. "There are wars going on in London to get the oil," said Tom Lasica, who runs Pure Fuels, London's largest refiner of vegetable oil. "Spanish and German companies are moving in to buy up British used vegetable oil. People are stealing it from each other and selling it abroad. We heard that one fish and chip shop in Southend was broken into just to steal the waste oil."
The law, which has recently relaxed, says that people may make 2,500 litres of fuel a year for personal use, and many are taking full advantage - saving money, reducing emissions, and turning their back on the real criminals; the oil giants.
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This post was written by Natasha Barnes on May 18, 2008