Liquid Fuels Mod: Turn Plants and Oil into Industrial Power
Minecraft mods that add realistic industrial processes often focus on electricity, but what about the fuels that power those generators? The Liquid Fuels mod answers that question by introducing a complete fuel production chain, from mashing plants into biomass to refining crude oil into high-grade gasoline. Whether you are running a massive factory with Buildcraft engines or heating a Railcraft boiler, this mod gives you the tools to create, store, and burn liquid energy sources in a satisfyingly complex way.
What Is Liquid Fuels?
At its core, Liquid Fuels is a content mod that adds new fluids, multiblock structures, and processing steps to transform organic matter and oil into combustible fuels. It integrates tightly with popular tech mods like Buildcraft, Forestry, IndustrialCraft 2, Railcraft, and Thermal Expansion, but it also works with the Universal Electricity API to let you mix and match energy systems. The mod splits into two main progression paths: a biofuel line that starts with plant materials and a petroleum line that begins with Buildcraft oil. Both end with potent fuels that can dramatically improve your energy output.
The Biofuel Production Line
If you have chests overflowing with saplings, wheat, or nether wart, the biofuel route turns that clutter into liquid gold. The process involves several dedicated machines, each performing a specific transformation.
- Step 1: Masher. Combine water and any plant material in the Masher to produce Biomass. Note that this Biomass is not compatible with Forestry’s version, so keep the two separate.
- Step 2: Bio Reactor. This is a multiblock structure built from 34 Bio Reactor Tanks in a 3x4x3 hollow cube, with the Bio Reactor block placed on top. Fill it completely with Biomass and supply power; it will convert the Biomass into Mash.
- Step 3: Fermenter. Pipe the Mash into a Fermenter to produce Stillage, a cloudy intermediate fluid.
- Step 4: Still. Feed Stillage and Steam into the Still. Steam can come from a Railcraft boiler, Factorization steam sources, or the mod’s own Electric Boiler, which simply needs water and power. The Still outputs Ethanol, and this version is fully compatible with Forestry’s Ethanol.
- Step 5: (Optional) Refinery. Use a Buildcraft Refinery to convert Ethanol into standard Fuel. There is no efficiency gain—this step exists purely to let you mix Ethanol with other fuel stocks.
Each stage demands careful resource management, but the payoff is a renewable, high-energy fuel that can sustain your industrial base indefinitely.
The Petroleum Cracking Tower
For players who prefer black gold, the petroleum line starts with finding a Buildcraft oil geyser. Pump the raw oil into the base of a Cracking Tower, a vertical multiblock consisting of one Cracking Tower Base with five Cracking Tower blocks stacked above it. Inject Steam into the base, and the tower will heat the oil, separating it into five distinct products, each filling one of the upper blocks.
- Asphalt. Mix one bucket of Asphalt with eight gravel to craft a decorative Asphalt block. It has no functional use but adds a dark, industrial look to your builds.
- Petroleum Coke Fluid. Send this into a Dryer to evaporate the water, leaving solid Petroleum Coke. It burns twice as long as coal in furnaces and generators.
- Diesel. Burns in Railcraft boilers, IC2 SemiFluid Generators, and Thermal Expansion Compression Dynamos, but it truly shines in a Buildcraft Iron Engine, where it delivers extra effectiveness.
- Kerosene. Works in the same machines as Diesel but gives its best performance in a Railcraft Boiler.
- Gasoline. Also compatible with the same generators, with its advantage coming in the IC2 SemiFluid Generator.
This tiered system rewards you for building and automating the tower, providing a range of fuels tailored to different engine types.
Energy Compatibility and the Universal Electricity API
Liquid Fuels is built on the Universal Electricity 3 API, which means its machines can accept multiple energy types if you install the UE Core mod alongside the base mod. Without UE Core, the machines only run on IndustrialCraft 2 EU. However, adding UE Core unlocks Buildcraft MJ and Thermal Expansion Redstone Flux compatibility. This flexibility is a huge advantage when you are juggling several tech mods, and it makes the mod a natural fit for custom modpacks. Getting all these mods to work together can be a chore, but with the foxygame.net launcher, you can easily install Liquid Fuels and its dependencies from a built-in menu, saving you the hassle of manual downloads and version matching.
Additional Recipes and Utilities
Beyond the main production chains, Liquid Fuels adds a few quality-of-life recipes and a handy block. The mod registers Buildcraft Refinery recipes to convert Ethanol, Seed Oil, and Creosote Oil into Fuel at configurable ratios—by default, 5 Ethanol gives 2 Fuel, 20 Seed Oil gives 1 Fuel, and 20 Creosote gives 1 Fuel. These numbers can be tweaked in the configuration file to balance your world. Another standout is the Water Generator. It is expensive to craft, but once built, it provides an infinite supply of water with no lag or flowing water blocks. Just craft it with two buckets of water, and it will never run dry, making it perfect for steam setups.
Installation and Setup
To get started, you need to install Red Gear Core version 2.0.1 or higher. While not strictly required, the Universal Electricity Core is strongly recommended so you can use the full range of energy types. Place the Liquid Fuels.jar file into your mods folder, and make sure at least one of the supported tech mods is present—otherwise the mod will have nothing to power. Crafting recipes vary depending on which mods you have installed, so using NEI (Not Enough Items) is the best way to see exactly what you need. For those who prefer a streamlined experience, the foxygame.net launcher bundles all the necessary files and lets you download the mod directly from its interface, which can save a lot of time when setting up a new world.
Conclusion
Liquid Fuels takes the often-overlooked concept of fuel production and expands it into a full-featured industrial mod. The dual progression paths give you a reason to farm crops and explore for oil, while the multiblock structures add a tactile, engineering feel. The mod’s ability to interface with multiple energy systems through the Universal Electricity API makes it a versatile addition to almost any tech-oriented modpack. Whether you are burning Ethanol in a Forestry engine or cracking oil into Diesel for a Buildcraft power plant, Liquid Fuels adds depth, challenge, and a satisfying sense of accomplishment to your Minecraft automation journey.