Biodiesel: Basics and Beyond: A Comprehensive Guide to
Production and Use for the Home and Farm
Reviewed by Robert Pritchett
Author: William H.
Kemp
http://www.aboutus.org/PowerBase.com
Aztext Press
2622 Mountain Road
Tamworth, Ontario, Canada KOK 3G0
Michele@aztex.com
http://www.aztext.com/biodiesel-book.cfm
Released: April 1,
2006
Pages: 300
$30 USD
ISBN: 9780973323337
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Strengths: A great
read on Home-brew Biodiesel production and for creating a biodiesel plant.
Weaknesses: Repeated pictures and information in book. Picture captions also repeat
paragraphs of information in the book. Will scare off Newbees. Pay attention
to Steve Fugate’s comments at the end. The book ought to be updated.
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Introduction
Biodiesel: Basics and Beyond is a
comprehensive guide to the production and use of biodiesel for the home and the
farm. Various home brewing methods are investigated and the results of years of
research are shared. The author Bill Kemp designed a microscale biodiesel
production facility that he built at his own home that produces ASTM
certifiable biodiesel.
What I Learned
Disclosure: I represent
Green World Biofuels - http://www.greenworldbiofuels.com/ in the Northwest for Steve Fugate. I settled on his system because it is
precise, concise and pretty much is extensible for the small business
operation. It is a clean, off-the-shelf earth-friendly system.
That said, one needs an instruction manual and understanding
of what all is involved in producing a quality biodiesel product. This book may
meet that need.
William Kemp provides a step-by-step process including lots
of pictures on how this can be done both safely and economically.
The book is divided into 1o chapters and 3 appendices.
They cover energy consumption, technical background of
diesel and biofuels, oil feedstocks, commercial biodiesel production, high
blend levels of biodiesel (VB100), debunking a lot of homebrew myths, doing
small-scale plants, homeheating and glycerin. The Appendices cover the ASTM D
6751 Fuel Quality Standard, a resource guide and oil production of common crops.
There is also an extensive glossary.
Yes, there are some typos and a few pictures that kept
getting repeated in the book (specifically the clogged fuel filter). I would
have liked to see pictures that were photos and in color to see better
definition. All pictures in this book are black and white and don't really do
justice to the topic. Of course, colorized would have raised the price
substantially.
I loved the Myth Buster entries scattered through the book
and the subtle occasional Canadian humor.
Is it coincidence that what to do with unrefined glycol
would be covered in Chapter 11? (Many Biofuel operations are going into
bankruptcy.) Handling the waste stream correctly is what is killing off a lot
of homebrew operations. It is much worse today than when this book was first
published in 2006!
Conclusions
If you want a book that introduces the topic of the basics
and beyond, the title of this book is absolutely correct. And William Kemp
pulls no punches regarding so-called Myths about how easy this process is(n't).
Recommendations
I may not agree with some of his political conclusions, but
I do like that fact that this is a Basics book that goes beyond.
Here is what Steve Fugate wrote in response to my question
about the book – and he has extra copies he gives out from time to time;
“I have given its contents a great deal of thought
though and many of his assertions are hotly debated in the home brew community.
We have proven with actual data that several of his "facts" are off
base. He had agreed to remove a few inaccuracies, but failed to do so. His
publisher had wanted me to promote and distribute it. I feel that a newbie
would be scared off by it, and by the looks of his setup, it is not used very
much, if at all. While engineers may have some great ideas, often they make
things far more difficult than they need be.
We do include the excellent
reference ‘Building a Successful Biodiesel Business’ from the knowledgeable
folks at Iowa State University that is MUCH more comprehensive, expensive and
less likely to frighten someone.”
http://www3.me.iastate.edu/biodiesel/
http://www.biodieselbasics.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=30&osCsid=9592b506142da86906a317fc1cf09d40
