‘The Vegetable Oil Car’ or ‘How to End our Dependence on Foreign Oil’*
Thank you to Chavi, from the Just Engage blog, for being our guest blogger.
Did you know that for about $2500 you can convert any diesel car or truck to run on fast food restaurant waste?
A friend of mine converted a mini-school bus to drive her family of 10 around town. Now it runs on vegetable oil. She calls it the “Veggie Van.”
There are companies that sell conversion kits for about $1200 plus $1200 for the installation of a second fuel tank that uses veggie oil. You still can use your regular fuel tank, so you don't have to use veggie oil if you don't have it.
If you’re into recycling the vegetable oil waste from your local Mickey-D’s, you can set up a filtration system in your basement or garage. Many fast-food restaurants are happy to give their used vegetable oil away for free so they don’t have to pay to dispose of it. The fast-food industry generates about 100 million gallons of waste oil annually.
If you don’t have the facilities (or the tinkering-ability) to set up such a system, for about $1.50 a gallon you can purchase vegetable oil from companies that filter it themselves. That’s still a significant savings from conventional fuel, which is more than $3.00 a gallon.
Let’s get the word out! Can you imagine a world in which instead of smelling conventional exhaust fumes, our streets smell of hamburgers and french-fries? This certainly would be an appealing way to teach kids and teenagers about conservation and self-sufficiency!
Did you know that for about $2500 you can convert any diesel car or truck to run on fast food restaurant waste? A friend of mine converted a mini-school bus to drive her family of 10 around town. Now it runs on vegetable oil. She calls it the “Veggie Van.”
There are companies that sell conversion kits for about $1200 plus $1200 for the installation of a second fuel tank that uses veggie oil. You still can use your regular fuel tank, so you don't have to use veggie oil if you don't have it.
If you’re into recycling the vegetable oil waste from your local Mickey-D’s, you can set up a filtration system in your basement or garage. Many fast-food restaurants are happy to give their used vegetable oil away for free so they don’t have to pay to dispose of it. The fast-food industry generates about 100 million gallons of waste oil annually.
If you don’t have the facilities (or the tinkering-ability) to set up such a system, for about $1.50 a gallon you can purchase vegetable oil from companies that filter it themselves. That’s still a significant savings from conventional fuel, which is more than $3.00 a gallon.
Let’s get the word out! Can you imagine a world in which instead of smelling conventional exhaust fumes, our streets smell of hamburgers and french-fries? This certainly would be an appealing way to teach kids and teenagers about conservation and self-sufficiency!
*Thanks to my friend “Happy Mom” for her experience and knowledge about this topic.
