Jatropha curcas--grow your own kerosene

[Atash Hagmahani]

http://www.reuk.co.uk/Jatropha-for-Biodiesel-Figures.htm

Jatropha curcas is a common hedging plant in the tropics used as a "living fence" (probably spiny and definitely poisonous). The oil extracted from the seeds is useful for candles, soap, lubricants, and as a substitute for kerosene. It can be used by some direct-injection diesel engines without refinement, or can be refined into a fuel.

[AndrewG]

Can it be used in a kerosene furnace? That would rule, as I think I'm in for a rough winter in upstate NY. I should say a COLD winter, and man I hate nothing more than being cold...

[Atash Hagmahani]

Bad news, Bud, it won't survive the winters in upstate New York.

What other options do you have?

[AndrewG]

I know this is kinda a crappy option, but I can run electric heaters. At least until things deteriorate to where I can't.
Also, my oven is propane, so in the evening I try and cook something to fill my stomach and get some residual heat going. Either way this is turning out to be an expense. The only GOOD thing about it being kerosene is I can run over to the gas station with a five gallon can and get enough to get me through a night if needs be. And rather than buying 200 gallons and having to lay out that cash just to have the price drop the next week, I can make several trips (in route of course) during the week and end up with 20 or 30 gallons by Friday. I'm still working on calculating how much it takes a day to heat the place.
I didn't know that the nozzle on your furnace, the size of which is expressed in decimal (.75, .80 and so on) refers to how many gallons per hour the unit will burn. So far no luck locating one that says .00025.

[opsec]

A Dietz lantern can throw off an amazing amount of heat as well as light. A couple of the larger ones could hold a single room at least at a tolerable temperature even if it isn't really warm. In fact,to save energy, it would help to have a single warm room that you spend most of your time in and leave the rest of the house cold.

[Atash Hagmahani]

I agree. If no other options, source heat a single room (WATCH OUT FOR VENTILATION PROBLEMS AND FIRE HAZARDS!!), and bundle up.

That's what our ancestors did before central heating.

I have central heating, but rarely use it, because it is just too darn expensive.

[opsec]

As long as you have electical power, a room heater would be safer than a kerosene lamp. And remember too, kerosene smells when you burn it. You and everything you have will smell like diesel exhaust if you live with a kerosene heater. That can be solved with lamp oil instead of kerosene. Dietz will burn both, but there's a catch. Once you start burning kerosene, you can't go back to burning the oil, or at least you will have to change the wick and clean out the lamp really, really well.

[Publius]

The cloud point of Jatropha derived biodiesel is 55 deg F. That's not real good for a vehicle, but if you used it a Kerosene heater and kept warm it may work. But let it get down to freezing and warming it up enough to use, would be a serious pain. It's best to find a feedstock oil that has a much lower cloud point. High-oleic safflower oil yield the lowest cloud point of a common oil 10 deg F. Similar number will be for the biodiesel. Well below freezing. Will it grow in your area? More research needed there. BTW No 2 Diesel is 5 deg. F

[Atash Hagmahani]

Impetus for using Jatropha is that the oil is handy for a number of purposes, and more importantly, the plant grows like a weed. It is commonly used on cruddy soil, often in the dry tropics, as a cheap hedge and/or erosion control.

In the lowland tropics, 55F is unlikely to be reached. But I will keep in mind that it might not be very useful shipped to higher latitudes! (Actually, it could be solidified and used for soap, and like wax in candles).

[The Future]

Tropics win again!!