1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180 
Chocs away! Ecotec heads for Timbuktu on chocofuel
Page 18
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
3iodiesel specialist Ecotec is running a truck to Timbuktu on biodiesel
-nade from broken chocolate. Yes, really. David Harris reports.
k. PRESTON. LAWS-BASED liodiesel specialist is turning he chocolate rejected by UK nanufacturers into truck fuel. Ecotec is testing its fuel by using to run a truck from London to imbuktu. in Mali, and it has lready started selling the chocoate-based biodiesel from its base. The company says one of the dvantages of making fuel from hocolatc that has been discarded iecause it is chipped or damaged is crops grown specifically for fuel.
hat it is an effective form of recyIt is also cheaper than ordinary ling, unlike the increasing use of diesel. Ecotec sells it from the pump for 90p/lit but can supply equipment to make bio-diesel at a total cost of around 40p/lit.
Sales and marketing manager Andrew Hodgson says equipment to produce 1,000 litres of fuel per day costs about £10,000.
The difficulty for hauliers is that truck manufacturers attach strict regulations to the use of biofuel and will not honour warranties if these regulations are broken.
Typically. the manufacturers insist on a blend with conventional diesel, sometimes with only 5% biodiesel permitted. There is an unresolved technical debate over whether biodiesel will damage truck engine components such as fuel pumps (CM 31 May 2007).
But Hodgson says that if biodiesel is made properly, trucks with unmodified diesel engines can run perfectly well using it on its own. Eventually Ecotec hopes hauliers will set up their own small biodiesel production plants to cut their fuel costs by more than half.
FOR MORE ON THIS AND RELATED SUBJECTS
www.roadtransport.com/cm