And the University of Western Australia scholar says the entire manufacturing process only takes a couple of hours from beginning to end.

“It’s very easy to make and accessible,” Thwaites told the Bioenergy and Biofuels in WA conference in Perth on Friday.

“The biodiesel takes about five to 10 minutes to make and a couple of more hours before it’s ready to go.”

Bioworks’ biodiesel “factories” include the equipment, accessories and consumables as well as the processing materials, raw oils, catalysts, methanol and blending agents.

In addition, Thwaites has run eight ‘do-it-yourself’ workshops since 2003 from the UWA campus and he says enrolment numbers are steadily increasing. There are 54 confirmed bookings for the upcoming course on March 12.

“We’ve had people attend these courses from all around Australia and I’ve received phone calls from places such as South Africa from people interested in what we do.”

At about 30c per litre in raw materials, creating biodiesel can be a relatively inexpensive way of refueling cars and tractors. But there is a downside.

Strict quality assurance legislation exists to ensure biodiesel has been mixed in the right quantities and is therefore safe to use.

This means home-brewers are legally required to take samples of their product to a testing facility, which can be costly and difficult to access. Currently there is only one of these facilities in Western Australia, at the UWA grounds.

Thwaites says he is now trying to establish a second one at the Murdoch University campus.