Summer-Autumn 2006

We are now in regular (if still low volume) production. We are currently spending most of our time trying to improve the way we get fuel out to our customers old and new. The latest development is that we are building a small network of outlets who will stock our fuel in 20 litre cans: for the current list see here. We are also actively looking for new sources of waste vegetable oil: if you are a caterer in the Oxford area we will only charge you an annual admin charge of £30 to cover regulatory paperwork, after that our collection is totally free. We have around 50 outlets signed up but would like to expand our rounds.

The June courses at CAT and LILI are fully-booked (or nearly, always worth checking if there are any withdrawals).

Finally we would like to say bye to Jim Dowling who has been working with us for the last year. Jim (seen right in usual garb) is moving into dryer and cleaner forms of biomass energy: thanks to him for all his hard work and absurd badger dancing. We are looking for a volunteer to get stuck in and learn about biodiesel on the job. You get a biodiesel allowance, you may get to go on one of our courses as a helper for free, and might even end up getting some paid work!

Spring 2006

Its been a long time coming but our plant is now up and running, though we are still constantly working to make it work better, faster and easier.

A very large number of people both locally and from further afield have asked after our fuel and until now we have had to turn the majority away. Now more waste oil is coming in and the plant capacity is up to scratch we can start to supply: thank you all for your patience! There is still a backlog of orders to fulfil and obviously those take priority. Following that we will be holding another biodiesel sale where local clients can come and fill up or collect 20 litre cans. We held a small sale in December which was a big success, and allowed us to actually meet some of our clients (and their cars!)

If you want fuel and would like to be on our mailing list please email us on info@goldenfuels.com . Fuel is currently selling at 92p/litre tax paid. As soon as production levels are increased we will start to provide deliveries of larger amounts.

Our courses at CAT and LILI are continuing and are always fully-booked. On the strength of our work promoting biodiesel we have secured some funding to put together a startup package for community-scale biodiesel including information and technology...more information to follow soon!

Winter 2005

It often seems like we're so busy running a biodiesel co-op there's no time to make fuel! The plant is now in the testing phase and there have been plenty of minor but annoying problems, and a fair amount of things that take so much longer than they should. I've spent the last few days cleaning glue out of big plastic containers...but they were cheap!

Apologies to all our pre-order clients for the continued delay. Nearly 4 tonnes of fuel has been preordered and will be made as soon as the plant is fully operational and testing is complete. basically its been lack of funding which has held us back though without pre-orders we wouldn't have made it through this bit at all, many thanks to all our clients.

In the meanwhile we've done more courses at CAT and LILI, and landed an exciting bit of consultancy work that may one day lead to another community-scale biodiesel project being set up. Our book is selling well and has received a very kind review from a well-known US biodiesel guru which means a lot to us.

We're also collecting oil from a regular group of caterers and looking to expand our round as time goes on. All hands are on plant construction at the minute though, or we'll run out of space sometime next week!

Spring 2005

Permit number XP3830BP

Now there's no excuse! we got the licence and are making the plant.

This is Dan working on one of our reactors. Sorry if we're a bit slow to respond to emails at the moments as we're busy doing plumbing, electrics and chopping up massive bits of steel as you can see. We're hoping to start delivering fuel to our pre-order customers in May.

Customs and Excise (or HMRC as they are now known) visited us a little while back and we will soon have all the paperwork in place for selling fuel. We also had some welcome media coverage with a front-page feature in the Oxford Times In Business magazine.

Ok i've got to go now and wire up some immersion heaters!

Winter 2004

Wow what a journey! To see the whole saga look at the news archive We have certainly come a long way. It seems incredible that we have got this far without a penny of grant money (or salary!)

This week we had a site visit from the Environment Agency. They have given us more detail on what they need from us in order for them to issue us with the all-important IPPC licence. The overall tone was positive, we think that by the end of January we will have this and then the all-clear will have been sounded. In order to help us over the last hurdles we are asking people if they would consider pre-ordering fuel. It would help us enormously at this time and means you have a one-off chance to purchase our fuel for 80p/litre! click here for more information.

Our standing as biodiesel trainers has been enhanced recently by successful courses at LILI and CAT. The latter was something of a milestone for us as it cements our position as the UKs main small-scale biodiesel trainers.

On many other fronts we have been forging ahead, having secured consultancy work, signed up a number of large caterers to our waste oil collection round, and done a lot of work on reactor kits. Somehow we have also fitted in some lab work and initial preparatory work on the plant itself. Thanks to Ant for his volunteer work across the board, to Toad for helping with transport in a big way, and to Will for serious support!

If anybody else fancies mucking in and getting oily why not call us, we need all the help we can get, and you get to learn about biodiesel in the process.

A word about biodiesel futures: some people will have seen George Monbiot's Guardian article about the probable negative effects of big business biodiesel over the next few years. Essentially we agree with most of what he has to say. We hope that people will realise that we are promoting small scale ethical and sustainable production of biodiesel from waste products. Like any technology, its all in the way that you do it. Be on your guard for greenwash!

Autumn 2004

The Summer has been a very busy time for us. We have completed the work for our Environment Agency IPPC application which is now awaiting Agency approval. Could be a few months by all accounts, but when the licence is obtained we will be cleared to start real production. At the moment, the regulations prohibit the making of any fuel whatsoever...

In tandem with the application and plant development we have been diversifying in order to promote biodiesel on a wider platform. Firstly we are offering our services as consultants, based on our position as leaders in UK small-scale biodiesel training. We can offer training, seminars, and consultancy support to businesses, groups, and individuals who need to get off the starting bliock with an understanding of biodiesel in context, especially for those who are interested in small and community scale fuel production and distribution.

Secondly we have been working on a design for small scale biodiesel reactors. These units reflect the lessons we have learnt while researching, teaching the course, and running biodiesel. They will reflect the best available techniques with regard to safety, quality fuel production, and ecologically sound methods. Photos of prototypes to follow!

In the interim we have taught another biodiesel course, appeared on Central News and in a Recycling industry magazine, promoted biodiesel at events and festivals, and are taking on volunteers to help us with the workload!

Summer 2004

We have finally moved into our premises, 1600 square ft of hangar about 8 miles from Oxford. At last we've been able to make some real progress though fuel is not yet in the pipeline. Here you can see Dan fixing one of our trailers...we've been doing a lot of work on vehicles and buildings to get the basics sorted. In the background we've also been setting up accounts and the like: the infrastructure of business. We're working on a small reactor design for LILI which brings together what we've learnt from our experiments and best practice from other peoples experience. At the same time we are dealing with the issue of regulation: to get the licence we need to operate from the Environment Agency we are going to have to provide a detailed description of our plant, but theres quite a bit more experimenting to do first.

For those still waiting for fuel: we're flat out and as frustrated as you! But now the ball is rolling and we're confident its actually going to happen...now back to the accounts....

Spring 2004

Ok its 2004 and I know many of our prospective customers are starting to think that this fuel is never going to materialise. Basically the last three months have been a nightmare as we have been preparing to move into premises only to be put off again and again by the landlord. In early December we finally gave up on him and mounted a high-speed search for new premises. The good news is we have found somewhere very suitable at the right cost. Hopefully the owners actually want somebody to move in. They certainly seem keen and we hope to get the lease signed in the next week.

Jokers and frustration apart we have had some positive experiences over the period. We helped to run another LILI biodiesel course which went very well, with a really enthusiastic group of people, some of whom are thinking about doing the same kind of thing as us in Cornwall. It looks like we will be even more closely involved with the course in the future, and will be helping to write an updated course manual. We have been able to do a lot more research into sensible ways of dealing with waste products, and have talked to some very interesting people who want to use biodiesel for a number of different vehicles.

A very happy New Year to all... we are going all out to bring sustainable local ethical ecological fuel to Oxford this year!

Autumn 2003

Right! after a rather frustrating summer we have managed to clear the decks. We're making the final preparations to move into the premises over the next month, with the first liquid production coming soon after. One high point was the LILI course which we taught on as 'official' tutors for the first time. There was a great range of extremely enthusiastic people some of whom are already a long way along the road towards production: check out Sundance Renewables.

The winter will be spent making sure that our fuel reaches the European biodiesel specification (EN14214), while working on the non-technical elements of our business: raw material supply, identifying customers. We hope to be on stream fully in early 2004.

During the intervening period we will be producing biodiesel that, while not explicitly certified, will be of a high standard suitable for running any normal Diesel engine (we will be running our vehicles on it of course!). A number of people have expressed an interest in buying fuel from us during this period, so if you're interested please be in touch.

Fame at last!

We were featured in a morning piece by Jane Huyg on BBC Radio Oxford which can be found online here. More details about Jane are available here

Its good to get alternative technology out on the local airwaves, and hopefully juts the start of a glittering media career. For some reason the van sounds incredibly smooth on the recording, must be that premium fuel!

Thanks Jane, we owe you a pint.

Summer 2003

We are delighted to announce that we have located a source of loan finance through ICOF who specialise in loans to small social businesses. The loan is quite small but will see us up and running and producing soon.

We have found suitable premises and are negotiating with the landlord to make sure everything is in place. We have also sourced an insurance deal; this was a major worry in the early stages as nobody really knew how much it would cost.

August will be spent making sure all the pieces of the jigsaw are in place so we don't start burning money before we're ready. We are also preparing to help out with the teaching on the LILI biodiesel course, hopefully taking a larger role and improving our training skills.

Following the Canal Festival we have had interest in biodiesel from many directions, including boaters of course, but also from as far away as Tanzania! We are currently working on some new process ideas and we're always looking for more sources of waste vegetable oil locally.

Spring 2003

Progress has been really good recently with a very positive response from Oxford people. All this support has helped us in negotiations over a start up loan: watch this space for an announcement in the near future!

We will be promoting biodiesel at the Canal Festival at Arisstotle Lane, Walton Manor on the 29 June. Come along for a biodiesel-making demonstration on the day, or to ask any questions or make any suggestions.

Following the feedback we have received through the questionnaire we have added a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section to the website here. If you have not filled in the questionnaire yet please do, we will try to answer any question to the best of our abilities.

To quote one respondent to the questionnaire:

 Great! if it does what it says on the tin !

By the end of the summer we hope to be able to show that it does.

Spring 2003

the 2003 budget delivered today missed a trick by failing to reduce the duty on biodiesel as lobbied for by producers. Instead the duty will rise in line with normal diesel in October

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media//08E44/07_Protecting_EFSR.pdf

Autumn 2002

This article appeared on page 2 of the Guardian on 21/10/2002. Its a general view of biodiesel after some negative publicity for vegetable oil based fuels. Jon did a phone interview with John Vidal for it on behalf of LILI and got misquoted as usual with these things. <<I don't recommend making it without training>> says DIY man...I think not. Good to see biodiesel in prime time media though

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,816052,00.html