How long would fuel last?

I did a power boating course a few years ago, and they warned us of the perils of the diesel bug. There was supposed to be this bacteria that turns diesel into sludge. It takes about a year, and the fuel needs to be idle. But to be on safe side they recommended draining engines over winter. Not sure if its a sea / water thing or if it effects all diesel....

It seems those vegetable oil conversions won't be any help either as they seem to supplement diesel rather than replace it entirely. As far as I'm aware there are some rapeseed oil refinement plants around Ireland, so there is a source of vegetable oil there for use.

It seems over all the best car for the apocalypse would be a fully electric car. You'd need to find your nearest owner of a nissan leaf or preferably a Tesla and rob their car once the poop hits the fan.

Tzar Chasm wrote: »

You still need to charge that electric car.

Yes, but worst case scenario you put some zombies on a treadmill attached to a generator. I think generating electricity will be easier for many people. I wonder is there a way to plug directly into those big windmills you see littered around the countryside.

Biodiesel is still the most feasible option as it dosent take much equipment to make a useable fuel.

I wondered about biodiesel, how hard is it to make? I assumed it would be beyond most people. I assumed the process of making it would use up a considerable amount of electricity too, which you could just put directly into your car.

Tzar Chasm wrote: »

Big wind turbines are out of the question, they feed into the grid, so not compatible with anything domestic

Biodiesel is remarkably simple and requires no more tools than some barrels and few Glass bowls.

Here, check this out,
http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/6/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=447609751&f=719605551&m=857600061

The chemicals might be a bit harder to get here in Ireland, I don't think you're average Irish supermarket would sell these kinds of things. Farmer suppliers might though. Searching for them showed a bulk supplier of all these chemicals so that's going on the "places to raid when the **** hits the fan list".

Both untreated petrol and diesel will be useless sludge and varnish within 6 to 12 months.Both are fast sell commodities in the modern world so there is no need to add stabilisers or preservatives to them as they will be used up within virtually 12 to 14 days of refining..Dont belive me?Try starting your lawnmower in Spring if you store it with a full tank of petrol[as you should to prevent moisture forming and rust in your tank] You can get fuel stabiliser products like STA BIL to prolong both petrol and diesel out to 14 and 24 months respectively.So unless you have a stash already in place,you are going to be goosed on the motor transportation side.
Bio diesel isn't that hard to make if you can find [lye or caustic soda] and ethanol.Fortunatly they are both pretty much standard industrial chemicals and are around.You can even make caustic soda from wood ash .Go learn up on it now,be a handy skill to have for soap making in the post apocalyptic world.Gotta wash the Zombie blood off you and your clothes..
Wouldnt try running it in a common rail diesel engine mind.You need an older diesel like a perkins or landrover or 1980s yoke.
You could also refine certain plastics back into a crude form of petrol ,diesel ,light and heavy lube oils and bunker oil to run your engines.Mightnt be as smooth as modern day fuels with their additives,but if it gets you motoring away from the undead,how bad??
Should add you could also make potin or moonshine high proof alcohol and use that as a fuel too by cutting it with petrol.Will clean out the fuel lines too as a bonus.Or if you are good and have a engine with a carbereuttor it can be modified to run on alcohol by modifying the jets. Just dont expect a quick getaway from a cold start.You have to vaporise alcohol before it will work in a cold engine.
Best and proably lasting the longest and proably will be available no bother in handy sturdy bottles is LPG gas.Things like forklifts run on them,and LPG gas conversions for cars were common in the 1980s and are still available if you are putting together a survival vechicle.

As long as the zombies can hold off for another 10 years or so fully useable electric cars should be common place.

I think electric is still the way to go, it's way simpler, even if the motor broke down it may be possible to rewind the motors, or just replace them with industrial units. Batteries will have a shelf life of about ten years, but there are many ways to generate electricity which is the main benefit.

Yeah, African countries seem to be able to keep old mercs running without much access to official parts and proper work spaces.

The infrastructure to make electricity isn't that complex, storing it is the problem, but that should hopefully be fixed in a decade or so.