I'm doing my homework on biodiesel right now and fixing to go towards it pretty quickly. We have two Cummins trucks here at home right now and considering seriously of putting a 4bt in my soon to be wifes '89 Dodge Ramcharger if I can get to making biodiesel. Biggest question I have is where do most of yall buy lye and methanol from? Around my parts in Alabama the drug "meth" is a huge problem with people home brewing it and I know for a fact lye is a big substance they buy to make it and also have heard methanol is a part they use also So law enforcement tries to keep a real close watch on the sell of these products. I'm wondering where you buy it,how much do you buy at a time,can you buy it in 55gal drums,how much do you pay a gal. for methanol and such.

Also on one other note,on collecting WVO I've heard some talk of restraunts using veggie "shortening" in fry machines and such and not VO. How would you know for certain which is used and what is the difference? I'm reading up on it...so please excuse the dumb questions

Jimbo

 

If you are buying a barrel of alcohol you can get the best deal by going to a local hotrod shop especially the ones that cater to the drag racers. If they don't have they can direct you to a near by racing fuel supplier.

Lye can be purchased from chemical dealers. I think it comes in 25# bags.

 

you can get lye for decent prices on ebay. the methanol will require a lot of calling around to different petroleum product vendors to find one that will sell and deliver to you. You need a hazmat license to transport the stuff.
my last quoted price was 326$ in january. Might have gone down again.