In an astonishing development that could have a dramatic effect on tax revenue, the government has scrapped duty on 'homebrew' biofuel.
Until June 30, anyone producing any quantity of biofuel had to hold a permit, pay duty of 28.35p per litre and submit returns to HM Revenue and Customs. And if you bought it at the filling station, you would be paying duty of 48.35p per litre.

Now, below a limit of 2500 litres per annum, there is no requirement to submit returns or to pay any duty at all! Biodiesel is the commonest and simplest to produce at home, and given a fuel consumption of 40 miles per gallon, 2500 litres would be sufficient for an annual mileage of 22,000 miles , more than enough for the vast majority of British drivers.

Even with a thirsty car at around 25mpg, it's enough for almost 14,000 miles. And if you 'produce' some for your use and your partner produces some for theirs you double the allowance and, anyway, with no returns being kept, who's going to notice if you go a little over the limit....?

Richard Price, Director of Biofuels Media commented: "The effect of the Government abolishing duty on the first 2,500 litres of home produced biofuel is dramatic. As long as motorists learn how to make biodiesel properly they can really benefit from this new 'Green incentive'.  Home produced biodiesel can be made to the same or better standard of equivalent industrially produced biodiesel."

Here's how it works out for cost, using waste vegetable oil from your local chip shop:
Input   Cost per litre
Waste Vegetable Oil 0p from your local chip shop / caf
Methanol  7.6p
Sodium Hydroxide 0.52p
Energy   0.12p
Purification  1p
Total   9.24p
Yes, 9.24p a litre , instead of almost a pound a litre for diesel at the pumps: that's a saving of over 2000 a year if you brew your own.

To find out how to do it, check out http://www.biofuelsmedia.com or get along to Biodiesel-Expo in Newark, Nottinghamshire on October 17-18.
Malcolm McKay, Motorbase News Editor