You probably associate diesel fuel with mack trucks, tractor-trailers, bulldozers and some German cars. It’s never been popular as fuel for conventional cars, which is really a shame, since diesel could save you a lot of money.
A less refined version of gasoline, diesel costs oil companies twenty five percent less per gallon to manufacture. Even so, the end product typically costs slightly more than regular gasoline. Plus, diesel prices have increased just like gas prices have. Because of this, diesel hasn’t proven to be very popular as a means to save on gas. Compound that by the fact that most diesel vehicles that the average person uses are either pick up trucks (not the best choice for city driving) or imported foreign cars which are difficult to find.
Diesel has it’s advantages over regular gasoline though. It gets better fuel economy and creates less pollution. This is why it’s so popular in the industrial fields. There’s not one single reason why diesel was never common for regular vehicles. Diesel engines were designed for industrial vehicles from the start, so they’ve always carried that association.
Something that is not commonly known is that diesel vehicles can burn a variety of fuels, all of which fall under the general definition of diesel. The one most widely known and most commonly available is biodiesel.
Biodiesel is created from organic sources, as you might have guessed. It’s become very popular commercially, and because of that it’s now necessary to make the distinction about what specific type of diesel you’re referring to.
Although biodiesel is a popular fuel for many diesel vehicle owners, it doesn’t tend to be any cheaper than the regular stuff. You might feel better using a fuel made up of organic sources, it’s not going to help your wallet out much.
But we’re not at a loss yet. There’s another kind of biodiesel out there. It’s probably sitting up in your kitchen cupboards right now. It’s a fact that diesel vehicles can actually run on used cooking oil. You don’t even have to make any modifications to your vehicle. This might be surprising, but it’s exactly what diesel engines were originally designed to handle. Rudolf Diesel, who invented the diesel engine, wanted to create an engine that would run on vegetable oil. This was so that small farmers could compete with larger companies who could afford the more costly gasoline.
This is a great opportunity to put money back in your wallet. If you can get your hands on an old diesel vehicle, or if you already have one, imagine being able to run it entirely on used oil that any restaurant would love to have you take it off their hands. With today’s gas prices, it’s certainly worth it to view this as a viable option. You can go from paying several dollars a month on gas, to paying nothing. I’m sure you agree, getting your “gas” for free is a huge improvement from paying four dollars a gallon.
