Springboard Biodiesel Videos

The Springboard Biodiesel video collection covers small-scale biodiesel production from several angles. Topics include how biodiesel is made, biodiesel on the farm, converting a tractor to biodiesel, and biodiesel Q&A and FAQs.

Other videos show real-world users, including a beer brewery, municipal utilities, and actress Daryl Hannah with her own biodiesel processor. There are also segments on biodiesel in China, glycerin demethylating, and the claim that a biodiesel-fueled truck can be greener than a hybrid.

Yes. A growing number of BioPro owners grow an oilseed crop, press the harvest, sell the leftover meal as cattle feed, and turn the oil into biodiesel. Farms that have tracked their costs report making fuel for roughly $1.50 to $2.50 per gallon.

Biodiesel runs in any diesel engine, so farm-made fuel can go straight into tractors and other equipment. Oilseed crops, like other vegetable oils, are suitable BioPro feedstock as long as the oil is dry, filtered, and within the processor's free fatty acid limits.

On carbon emissions, it can be. Studies estimate biodiesel cuts CO2 by 78% to 90% per gallon compared with petroleum diesel, and the higher figure applies to biodiesel made from recycled cooking oil. A hybrid still burns fossil fuel, only less of it.

Burning a gallon of #2 diesel releases about 22.3 pounds of CO2. Replacing it with B100 made from recycled vegetable oil avoids about 19.6 pounds of that. B100 also cuts particulate emissions roughly in half. The actual comparison depends on each vehicle's fuel economy and the blend used.

Yes. Restaurants and other food businesses that generate used cooking oil are well positioned to make their own biodiesel, and a brewery is among the users featured in the video collection. A BioPro converts used cooking oil into ASTM-grade biodiesel at a yield of about 99%.

In one payback scenario, a restaurant with enough oil to run a BioPro 380EX six days a week produced about 2,400 gallons per month. At diesel prices of $3 per gallon, the machine and labor paid for themselves in roughly 4.5 months.

Glycerin demethylation is the process of recovering leftover methanol from the glycerin byproduct of a biodiesel batch. The recovered glycerin can then be used to make raw soap.

Every batch produces glycerin: about 10–12 gallons alongside 50 gallons of biodiesel in a BioPro 190, and 20–24 gallons in a BioPro 380. Besides demethylating it, owners use glycerin for soap-making, livestock feed, composting, dust suppression, or anaerobic digesters. Never pour glycerin down a drain or into a stream; its high biological oxygen demand kills fish and other aquatic life.