Diesel (or PetroDiesel to distinguish it from BioDiesel) is derived from distilling Petroleum. A gallon of gas (sorry Petrol) has about 15% less energy than a gallon of diesel and in cars the difference can be 40% more mileage for diesel engined vehicles than petrol.
Of course Petrodiesel is a fossil fuel. It takes millions of years to make and how much better would it be to convert to biodiesel which is biodegradable and non-toxic, and refers to alkyl esters made from the transesterification of both vegetable oils and/or animal fats. Diesel engines made before 1992 should generally not use biodiesel as it can perish rubber seals.
If however you are interested in using biodiesel (its cheaper in the UK- 20p tax (less) per litre), then biomotors.co.uk is an interesting site to check out. I always thought you could just put biodiesel straight in but it appears to be a little more complex than that. Read about it on the site.
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