The Vinatge Magazine, Southwest Georgia, for Boomers and Beyond

February, 2010

Dents, Scratches and Kitchen Grease

I feel like a hypocrite before I even type these words: I was totally enthralled by the "Fueling Up on French Fries . Oil!" feature by Kristen Taylor this month. How cool is it that you can pour waste vegetable oil (WVO), filtered of course, into the older model diesels and they just run on it?! No conversion kits necessary. The hypocrital part comes in because Paul and I are great contributors to the gas-hog, pollutin' monster-truck phenomenon going on in this country nowadays - especially the Deep South - with two big pick-ups.

Features

Fueling Up on French Fries . Oil!

By Kristen Taylor

French fries may save the planet!

With a recent hike in gasoline prices due to severe weather throughout the country, it appears that those who put "living greener" on their resolutions list last month have hit the nail on the head. It's always nice to save a buck but kudos to those who conserve non-renewable energy sources while doing so.

Americans use 140 billion gallons of gasoline each year. That kind of dent to the wallet has many considering an alternate fueling method for their vehicles - used kitchen grease - and it's not just the hippies and the hipsters!

However, it does sound pretty cool and it is extremely hip to say your vehicle is run by waste vegetable oil (WVO). Mother Nature must be smiling because it also lowers emissions. Vehicles running on waste vegetable oil do not produce a net increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide. This is because the carbon dioxide produced by burning vegetable oil is less than the amount absorbed by the plants the oil was obtained from.