Storing Petrol long term?

[SILVERHARP2]

I gather petrol only has a shelf life of 6-9mths, are there additives that can be bought to extend the life of petrol for 3-5 years or more.

The thought has crossed my mind to get a 1000ltr tank, similar to an oil tank and store at the end of the garden, I don't drive much and even this amount would bridge the gaps when supplies might be disrupted.

I gather this might not be legal but that would be the least of my concerns if supplies were disrupted.


alternatively just have a couple of refills on hand and use every 6mths or so on the assumption that any disruption would be short term and PO is only a price issue for the first 5 or 10 years

[mikepepler]

I imagine there are regulations about storing large quantities of petrol - it's dangerous stuff, as Buncefield demonstrated. The problem when you store it is that the lighter components of the mixture evaporate, so I'm not sure you could make an additive to fix that. Diesel is better, as it evaporates less.

Of course, an even better solution is what I'm doing - run your diesel car on veg oil. I store 20l of diesel and up to 120l of veg oil, which together is enough to travel nearly 2000 miles (in my car). And the veg oil is costing only 70.4p/litre, including taxes. And of course, there's always a backup supply at your supermarket, though that is illegal as it would be evading fuel duty. Still, in an emergency, it might be useful.

[SILVERHARP2]

Of course, an even better solution is what I'm doing - run your diesel car on veg oil. I store 20l of diesel and up to 120l of veg oil, which together is enough to travel nearly 2000 miles (in my car). And the veg oil is costing only 70.4p/litre, including taxes. And of course, there's always a backup supply at your supermarket, though that is illegal as it would be evading fuel duty. Still, in an emergency, it might be useful.

Can you use veg oil from the supermarket? I havn't looked into this before but remember something about the cooked oil being better? did you have to make any modifications to your car?

[mikepepler]

Can you use veg oil from the supermarket? I havn't looked into this before but remember something about the cooked oil being better? did you have to make any modifications to your car?

Seee the details here and the TV clip here.

As you'll see, the car is modified, but it's not complicated and it still runs on diesel too. Fresh oil is easier to run on than used, as used oil must be filtered, dried and have its acidity level checked. Also, fresh oil stays liquid to a lower temperature than used oil. However, all of these issues are easily overcome by having a heated fuel filter and mixing 5-10% diesel with the veg oil when the weather is sub-zero. The best bit about running on used oil is that it's a waste product, so you're not consuming something that should have been somebody's food.

At the end of the day, if you're worried about storing fuel, the first thing is to have an efficient car, so you don't need to store as much. But in the long run, it's better to not need the car. We're moving in that direction, with two bikes and a recumbent trike between us, and a plan to get rid of one of our cars this autumn (not the veg-fuelled one!).

[SILVERHARP2]

Thanks, I watched the video. Our main car is Petrol but on the flip side we probably only fill it less than 10 times a year and I can and do cycle to work. We don't "need" the car as such and could get on fine without it.