How to Make Bio-Diesel at Home

Biodiesel is a clean burning fuel that can be made at home from renewable resources. Biodiesel can be made from cooking oil. You will need four things to make biodiesel: waste vegetable oil, methanol, household lye, and water. Your first step should be to find a source of waste vegetable oil. The ingredients in biodiesel are dangerous, so be sure to educate yourself on the hazards. Methanol is flammable and does not have visible flames when it burns. Lye is dangerous to your skin. When the two are combined together its vapors are dangerous to breathe. Always have a fire extinguisher and a water hose at the ready. So, when making your biodiesel always use extreme caution. 

Kits are sold that allow you to make the biodiesel. You can use a water-heater type mixing tank or a polyethylene funnel-bottomed mixing tank. The methanol and lye will start in the smaller tank and transfer to the larger tank containing the cooking oil. The mixing takes about one hour and the chemical process take about 24 hours. In order to determine how much lye is needed for the chemical process, titration must be done on the cooking oil. PH tests are sold that allow the titration process of cooking oil to take place. The water is added to the mixture after the chemical process has taken place. Water removes any waste products in the mixture. This is just a general overview of how biodiesel is made. If you click here you can watch a video of biodiesel being made. 

 

Soil Types

   12 Soil Types of the World

1. Gelisols: soils with permafrost within 2 m of the surface.

2. Histosols: organic soils

3. Spodosols: acid forest soils with a subsurface accumulation of metal-humus complexes

4. Andisols: soils formed in volcanic ash

5. Oxisols: intensely weathered soils of tropical and subtropical environments

6. Vertisols: clayey soils with high shrink/swell capacity

7. Aridisols: CaCO3- containing soils of arid   environments with subsurface horizon development.

8. Ultisols: strongly leached soils with a subsurface zone of clay accumulation and <35%base

9. Mollisols: grassland soils with high base status

10. Alfisols: moderately leached soils with a subsurface zone of clay accumulation.

11. Inceptisols: soils with weakly developed subsurface horizons.

12. Entisols: soils with little or no morphological development.

 Follow this link to read more detailed summaries of each soil type: 

http://www.cals.uidaho.edu/soilorders/orders.htm

Types of Soil in Georgia

            Georgia soil types include clay, sand, loam, and silt. These are the main soil types, but there are combinations of these with additives. The additives can include, but are not limited to salt, rock and other sediments. If you are wanting to determine your exact soil type a sample should be taken to your local extension service. Click here to learn how to do at home soil identifications. 

Micaceous Schist

            Micaceous Schist is a metamorphic rock composed of 50% tabular and elongated minerals. The crystals in this rock are larger than slates, but smaller than gneisses. They come in green, gray, dark brown, and silver. 

Urban Community Gardens

Urban community gardens are becoming more popular in the United States. Community gardens can help provide healthy and affordable food for low-income families. Not only do the low-income families have access to food, but they also have the opportunity to lead healthier lifestyles. Some of the gardens can provide jobs, volunteer opportunities for students in the community, and the opportunity to reconnect communities.

            Community gardens can be created anywhere, allowing vacant land to be put to good use. The gardens are a great way to help underprivileged people of the community. It is an activity that everyone can help with. People of the community will need to upkeep the garden, plant the seeds, water the plants, and distribute the food.

            The concept of community gardens is not new, it is a fad that is returning. During WWII, millions of people planted “victory gardens” to help with the food shortage that the war placed on the food industry. Americans planted these gardens everywhere- empty lots, backyards, and rooftops. The movement for community gardens started up again when Michelle Obama planted a garden at the White House. You can read more about the victory gardens and the increase in popularity at this website.