A Little Bit of Grease Can Go a Long Way
Did you know that a diesel engine can run off of used cooking grease? There is no conversion necessary, no expensive gadget, just cheese cloth. If you strain the excess particles out of the grease then it can be poured straight into the gas tank as fuel. It runs just as well and is almost completely devoid of harmful emissions. Well, two kayaking buddies drove their diesel truck from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego on nothing but this alternative energy source. This is an amazing accomplishment not only for the two crazy guys that pulled it off, but for the entire environmental community; it shows just how viable alternative sources of energy are in todays world. If something of this caliber is possible by a couple of hippie kayaking adventurers (hell yeah!) then imagine what is possible if more that a few people are behind it. Once industry begins really looking at cleaner and more renewable energy sources the possibilities could be endless. With the technology of today we have the capacity to make great strides towards living a more eco-friendly lifestyle, all it will take are more people like Seth Warren and Tyler Bradt to literally make the world a better place.
5 comments:
This alternative fule source is a very interesting solution to the problem of automibile pollution, but is it really THE solution. Is there enough cooking grease to fuel enough cars to actually make a dent in the emissions level from automobiles as a whole? I don't think there is enough cooking grease out there.
Cooking grease? That's crazy! And a little disgusting, but if it works then so be it. I agree with Mitch that there is probably not enough cooking grease out there, but there may be enough to combine it with gas and save us some money. It is pretty cool that these two guys drove a car completely ran on grease as there gas.
The majority of cars used in the United States do not run on diesel fuel so it would not be possible to call this a solution to current problem of oil dependency. People are very quick to suggest alternative fuel options. The problem is that even the money being given to researchers right now by the U.S. government is technically being wasted. After the research that has been conducted with the government's money in the past few years we are no closer to a solution for the amount of oil we consume. Many suggest that if researchers had more money to experiment with than they would be able to reach a solution. We may consider the past research expenses to be a sunk cost but now we must think about how much money really should be donated to finding this alternate fuel when we have been so unsuccessful this far. It is great that a few guys found an alternate way to drive their diesel cars but what about the rest of us. There sure is not enough grease for all diesel car owners because the price of grease would increase if it was used at that quantity. As expensive as current gas prices are they are the cheapest way to power cars. People want cheap. Gas, even though it seems expensive is in abundance, much more than kitchen grease, and therefore cheap.
A potential problem: using vegetable oil may plug the fuel injectors, causing starting and idling problems with your vehicle (fuel injectors are around $200 dollars a pop, and when you have a 8 cylinder diesel, which most are, thats $200 X 8, or $1,600 in new fuel injectors). Also, this will most likely cause a decrease in torque and horsepower of the vehicle. Sure, you may be running cleaner (if vegetable oil IS really cleaner), but if you can't get up a hill, or can't tow a trailer behind you, then what's the point of using this oil?
Also to dispute the author's argument: it is not as easy as it sounds to make workable fuel. If we could make magical diesel fuel by using cheese cloth, wouldn't the whole world be adopting this practice? IMO, it isn't that easy, nor practical. However, it may be one of the first processing steps in making vegetable oil/cooking grease a viable alternative to diesel!
Anything we can do to lower gas prices and harmful emissions into the atmospher is a great thing. These two guys are going to be billionaires someday and save alot of Americans money. Good for them, and us.
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