Just when you thought the best thing about fast food was the heavy satisfaction in your stomach after a big mac, you might soon get free fuel along with it. A group with a mind for the environment have begun using vegetable oil and old restarant grease to power their cars or even heat their homes.
Greasecar Vegetable fuel systems, of Easthampton, Mass., is a nine year old business which makes conversion kits that enable cars to run on vegtable oil. The kits, which run from $800 to $2,000, have been doubling annually in recent years, thanks to the appeal of free used vegetable oil that restaurants will gladly hand out. In a few short months carowners can makeup for the price of the engine conversion, and the thought of free fuel is nothing short of a miracle. At least until the technology spreads and old vegetable oil is in high demand... but at least we would keep the business in our own backyard, rather than depending on foreign vegetable oil.
Vegetable oil is similar to diesel in terms of fuel consumption, banking around 20-30% more milage than standard gasoline.
Philadelphia Fry-O-Diesel is another company in the market for nasty restaurant grease. Founded in 2004, the company does tests and research on the use of restaurant grease as a biofuel, with a long term goal of creating a large scale plant to turn used grease into biodiesel, which is much more efficient and more biodegradible than petrodiesel, not to mention less toxic. And it'd be doing the restaurants a favor. The company estimates that 4-5 million gallons of yellow grease are produced by restaraunts in the Philadelphia area each year, requiring disposal fees, often avoided by the illegal dumping of the grease, which is harmful to the environment.
It's kind of a wacky idea, but with the cost of gas these days, i'd definitely give vegetable fuel a shot. If you're still unsure, you can test out the style with a sporty "Drive Vegetarian" sweatshirt from Greasecar. Clearly it wouldn't be a movement without a t-shirt!
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