I'm not sure how I missed this, but it might be of interest to some here. In June Customs and Excise apparently very quietly changed the rules on taxation of biofuels, removing duty on small producers, defined as those producing less than 2500 litres of biodiesel, etc, per year. Apparently it also covers using straight vegetable oil, which seems to be going for about 55-60 pence per litre in bulk, from a quick check at the local cash and carry. Effectively this gives you a personal allowance of 2500 litres of biofuel per year, which at, for example, 40 MPG (my van's average fuel consumption) is more than 22000 miles a year Comfortably above my current mileage.

I know what the next project for the popemobile is going to be

Converting an oldish diesel to run on vegetable oil is quite straightforward, and something I had been tempted to do for a number of years. The only thing stopping me was the tax cost, which made the fuel more expensive than normal diesel fuel. Now, with the skyrocketing cost of fossil diesel and a huge tax saving, it's definitely worth it.

For our north american friends, this is so attractive because the cost of diesel fuel in the UK at the moment is around £1.08 per litre. This works out to around 2.20 US$ per litre, or 8.37 US$ per US gallon. You think you've got fuel cost problems

90%+ tax, of course.

pca

edited to correct my inexplicably stupid maths error

In the US, diesel fuel has traditionally been less expensive than low-octane gasoline. But of late, it's started to skyrocket, and is now more expensive than premium-octane gasoline. At least around here. I think it might be in part to do with the new more stringent sulfur regulations for diesel fuel, but still. Interesting that the same thing is going on in the UK.

Diesel used to be considerably cheaper than petrol, but has been around 2-3% more expensive for some years now. The disparity is growing steadily larger as well.

The saving grace is that you tend to get more than the price difference worth of extra mileage from a diesel vehicle.

pca