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Drive Free - Veggie Fuel for your car
how you can turn Free vegetable oil into diesel fuel for your cars.
No more Expensive Gas stations.
No more Expensive Gas stations.
Thanks to recent television coverage, Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) is a fashionable topic in American living rooms. When you arrive at the deli requesting used cooking oil, they will act like you are their long lost cousin.
HISTORY
The first diesel engine, dubbed the Black Mistress, was invented in 1893 by Rudolf Diesel. Obviously, there was not diesel fuel before there was a diesel engine, so in the years that followed, Rudolf Diesel perfected his invention and discovered that this engine could run on practically any hydrocarbon, including shale oil, refinery tailings, coal dust, and peanut oil.
I feel like I am just taking the little Black Mistress invention (diesel engine) back to her roots. Letting her natural knotty hair grow out. Feeding her the food she was meant to eat, you know?
Running vegetable oil is what this engine was designed to do!
BIODIESEL versus WASTE VEGETABLE OIL (WVO)
I run waste vegetable oil (WVO), which is different than biodiesel. Biodiesel is a vegetable oil - or animal fat - based fuel that can be run in any diesel engine without modifications. The benefits of biodiesel are that it reduces emissions by 80% and can actually be purchased at the pump in many large and small cities, especially common in middle America (farmers have been running biodiesel for decades).
DRAWBACK TO BIODIESEL
The drawback to biodiesel is that it is a highly refined fuel, often processed from virgin oils or fats, that utilizes electricity and highly toxic chemicals, such as methanol in its production, and costs anywhere between $2.30 to $ 3.80 per gallon.
Furthermore, biodiesel destroys fuel lines and gaskets on older diesel engines. The toxic chemicals added to vegetable oil to convert it to biodiesel dissolves the rubber gaskets and fuel lines on older diesel engines. All the gaskets and fuel lines must be replaced with new items designed to withstand the chemicals in biodiesel. The cost of parts and the cost of labor of an mechanic can be expensive.
Moreover, on older diesel vehicles, the fuel tanks accumulate gunk over a period of time from the dirty petro diesel fuel. The chemicals in biodiesel will dissolve this gunk in the fuel tank and cause it clog up the fuel filters in a diesel engine. Thus, in many situations, the fuel tanks on older diesel vehicles must be replaced by a new tank. This will cost more money for parts and for labor of a mechanic.
BENEFITS of WASTE VEGETABLE OIL (WVO)
Waste vegetable oil is literally used kitchen grease, the processing of which involves nothing more than hand-filtering to remove the deep-fryer floaters (water and microscopic food particulate).
See article: Collecting And Using Used Cooking Oil The Easy Way
http://plantdrive.com/learnmore/usedcookingoil/usedcookingoil.html
The benefits of used vegetable oil are that it also reduces emissions by 80%.
It does not require chemicals or electricity in its processing. It is absolutely FREE. You will not be hanging out at gas stations anymore.
Most importantly, it prevents this massive byproduct of our fast-food industry from being dumped into the ground water or used in your body soap and cosmetics (yuk!).
CONVERTING YOUR VEHICLE TO RUN ON WVO
Although, the Black Mistress diesel engine of 1893 could handle some good grease, the modern diesel fuel injection systems have been engineered to run on low-viscosity diesel fuel and can not handle thick grease, unless the viscosity is reduced first.
This can be accomplished in two ways:
1. Chemically transforming the oil into biodiesel
2. By heating the vegetable oil to a temperature of 160 - 180 degrees fahrenheit, the viscosity is reduced to that of diesel fuel, and voila, Rudolph’s dream is revisited.
So the conversion process is not an engine conversion at all, but a sort of add-on which heats and filters the WVO before it gets to the engine. With my car, a hot little 2001 TDI VW Jetta, the add-on begins at the main tank, which holds 15 gallons and is now used for waste vegetable oil. Two electric heating pads (drawing 7 amps each) are installed underneath the main tank, getting the grease started heating as soon as you put your key in the ignition.
From the heated main tank, an new fuel line is run to a custom 10 micron veggie fuel filter in the engine. The new fuel line is wrapped in the two lines of coolant borrowed from the thermostat, assuring that when the engine running temperature, the already heated main-tank veggie fuel will maintain 190 degrees fahrenheit temperature all the way to the fuel filter, which is wrapped in another 7 amp heating pad. At this point, the veggie fuel, filtered and fluid, is ready to go!
My 2001 TDI Jetta’s personal conversion includes one more add-on to accommodate my incorrigible gypsy lifestyle. You see, I can not tell you where I will be next week, let alone next winter, so I chose to install a two-tank system on my car. The tow-tank system equips my WVO machine with a small 5 gallon auxiliary tank (mine sits in the trunk around the spare tire) that is filled with biodiesel or diesel for cold-weather startup and shutdown.
Other methods for utilizing WVO in very cold weather, such as the Arctic Circle, see :
Plant Drive of Canada
http://plantdrive.com
Prefabricated conversion kits start at $600 and go up to $3,000. Fortunately, for those with the ambition, mechanical inclination and a good set of socket wrenches, converting a diesel engine to run on Vegetable Oil, can be an inexpensive and very rewarding do-it-yourself endeavor. My personal conversion kit and installation cost a total of $2,500, which included four extra $40 veggie fuel filters, a $30 stash of filter bags and a $160 electric pump, all of which I would highly recommend. The electric pump plugs into my lighter outlet and is used to pump grease from one container to another, or from one container to my tank. That pump is invaluable, keeping me, this miniskirt-wearing girl, from getting greasy hands, etc.
Indeed, fueling your car with WVO requires more commitment and consciousness than pulling up to the gas pump (and losing your money to the oil pirates and robber barons), but if I wanted average results, I would be doing what average people do. I will settle for nothing less than an extraordinary life this time around, and will do with joy whatever it take to have it.
Tonya Kay
raw-food athlete, Educator, coach, dancer, actress and singer
OTHER INFO
Biodiesel can be used as home heating oil, but rubber fuel lines might have to be replace.
Waste Vegetable Oil also can be used as home heating oil, after filtering and some modifications to the heating system.
LINKS:
Vegetable Oil conversion kits for vehicles
http://plantdrive.com
book: From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank; author: Joshua Tickell
http://www.joshuatickell.com/books_films.htm
Making Biodiesel the Easy Way
http://www.biodieselwarehouse.com
TOURS of SOLAR HOMES and SOLAR BUILDINGS
http://southafrica.indymedia.org/news/2006/06/10600.php
http://bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=25072
http://www.ases.org/tour
http://www.ases.org/tour/2005_tour/California.htm
http://www.homepower.com/events/index.cfm
http://www.solarliving.org
http://www.solarhouseday.com/index01.shtml
http://www.homepower.com/links/non_profit.cfm
http://www.solarhouseday.com
Alternative Car Links
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/06/114492.php
http://bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=25073
eco recycling - saving Energy and water intelligently
http://victoria.indymedia.org/news/2006/06/50235.php
PEAK OIL and Permaculture
http://hawaii.indymedia.org/news/2006/05/5774.php
http://thunderbay.indymedia.org/news/2006/05/23436.php
http://bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=25013
Solar energy, solar heated homes - buildings
Solar heated swimming pools, spas and hot tubs.
~~Advanced Sustainable Technologies for Economic Progress
http://www.thunderbay.indymedia.org/news/2005/11/21689.php
http://istanbul.indymedia.org/news/2005/11/82627.php
Organic food for all.
People and students from around the country are setting up organic gardens to feed the poor and to give fresh produce to food banks.
Volunteers needed.
Grow a Row for your local food bank.
Please Help. Thank you.
http://hawaii.indymedia.org/news/2006/06/5894.php
http://bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=25075
Please support LOCAL Organic FAMILY farmers. Please use sustainable technology.
COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE (CSA)
keeping our communities Safe from Peak Oil
------------------
http://www.cuco.org.uk/index.php?page=3
http://www.localharvest.org/csa
http://www.localharvest.org/csa.jsp
http://www.eatlocal.org/Ideas.html
http://victoria.indymedia.org/news/2006/06/50327.php
http://bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=25077
(Note: you can save this web page to your hard drive. Then you can open the saved file on your hard drive and click on the links to access the web sites)
Please email this web page to your friends and to people who are concerned about our future and our Grandchildren’s future. Thank you.
HISTORY
The first diesel engine, dubbed the Black Mistress, was invented in 1893 by Rudolf Diesel. Obviously, there was not diesel fuel before there was a diesel engine, so in the years that followed, Rudolf Diesel perfected his invention and discovered that this engine could run on practically any hydrocarbon, including shale oil, refinery tailings, coal dust, and peanut oil.
I feel like I am just taking the little Black Mistress invention (diesel engine) back to her roots. Letting her natural knotty hair grow out. Feeding her the food she was meant to eat, you know?
Running vegetable oil is what this engine was designed to do!
BIODIESEL versus WASTE VEGETABLE OIL (WVO)
I run waste vegetable oil (WVO), which is different than biodiesel. Biodiesel is a vegetable oil - or animal fat - based fuel that can be run in any diesel engine without modifications. The benefits of biodiesel are that it reduces emissions by 80% and can actually be purchased at the pump in many large and small cities, especially common in middle America (farmers have been running biodiesel for decades).
DRAWBACK TO BIODIESEL
The drawback to biodiesel is that it is a highly refined fuel, often processed from virgin oils or fats, that utilizes electricity and highly toxic chemicals, such as methanol in its production, and costs anywhere between $2.30 to $ 3.80 per gallon.
Furthermore, biodiesel destroys fuel lines and gaskets on older diesel engines. The toxic chemicals added to vegetable oil to convert it to biodiesel dissolves the rubber gaskets and fuel lines on older diesel engines. All the gaskets and fuel lines must be replaced with new items designed to withstand the chemicals in biodiesel. The cost of parts and the cost of labor of an mechanic can be expensive.
Moreover, on older diesel vehicles, the fuel tanks accumulate gunk over a period of time from the dirty petro diesel fuel. The chemicals in biodiesel will dissolve this gunk in the fuel tank and cause it clog up the fuel filters in a diesel engine. Thus, in many situations, the fuel tanks on older diesel vehicles must be replaced by a new tank. This will cost more money for parts and for labor of a mechanic.
BENEFITS of WASTE VEGETABLE OIL (WVO)
Waste vegetable oil is literally used kitchen grease, the processing of which involves nothing more than hand-filtering to remove the deep-fryer floaters (water and microscopic food particulate).
See article: Collecting And Using Used Cooking Oil The Easy Way
http://plantdrive.com/learnmore/usedcookingoil/usedcookingoil.html
The benefits of used vegetable oil are that it also reduces emissions by 80%.
It does not require chemicals or electricity in its processing. It is absolutely FREE. You will not be hanging out at gas stations anymore.
Most importantly, it prevents this massive byproduct of our fast-food industry from being dumped into the ground water or used in your body soap and cosmetics (yuk!).
CONVERTING YOUR VEHICLE TO RUN ON WVO
Although, the Black Mistress diesel engine of 1893 could handle some good grease, the modern diesel fuel injection systems have been engineered to run on low-viscosity diesel fuel and can not handle thick grease, unless the viscosity is reduced first.
This can be accomplished in two ways:
1. Chemically transforming the oil into biodiesel
2. By heating the vegetable oil to a temperature of 160 - 180 degrees fahrenheit, the viscosity is reduced to that of diesel fuel, and voila, Rudolph’s dream is revisited.
So the conversion process is not an engine conversion at all, but a sort of add-on which heats and filters the WVO before it gets to the engine. With my car, a hot little 2001 TDI VW Jetta, the add-on begins at the main tank, which holds 15 gallons and is now used for waste vegetable oil. Two electric heating pads (drawing 7 amps each) are installed underneath the main tank, getting the grease started heating as soon as you put your key in the ignition.
From the heated main tank, an new fuel line is run to a custom 10 micron veggie fuel filter in the engine. The new fuel line is wrapped in the two lines of coolant borrowed from the thermostat, assuring that when the engine running temperature, the already heated main-tank veggie fuel will maintain 190 degrees fahrenheit temperature all the way to the fuel filter, which is wrapped in another 7 amp heating pad. At this point, the veggie fuel, filtered and fluid, is ready to go!
My 2001 TDI Jetta’s personal conversion includes one more add-on to accommodate my incorrigible gypsy lifestyle. You see, I can not tell you where I will be next week, let alone next winter, so I chose to install a two-tank system on my car. The tow-tank system equips my WVO machine with a small 5 gallon auxiliary tank (mine sits in the trunk around the spare tire) that is filled with biodiesel or diesel for cold-weather startup and shutdown.
Other methods for utilizing WVO in very cold weather, such as the Arctic Circle, see :
Plant Drive of Canada
http://plantdrive.com
Prefabricated conversion kits start at $600 and go up to $3,000. Fortunately, for those with the ambition, mechanical inclination and a good set of socket wrenches, converting a diesel engine to run on Vegetable Oil, can be an inexpensive and very rewarding do-it-yourself endeavor. My personal conversion kit and installation cost a total of $2,500, which included four extra $40 veggie fuel filters, a $30 stash of filter bags and a $160 electric pump, all of which I would highly recommend. The electric pump plugs into my lighter outlet and is used to pump grease from one container to another, or from one container to my tank. That pump is invaluable, keeping me, this miniskirt-wearing girl, from getting greasy hands, etc.
Indeed, fueling your car with WVO requires more commitment and consciousness than pulling up to the gas pump (and losing your money to the oil pirates and robber barons), but if I wanted average results, I would be doing what average people do. I will settle for nothing less than an extraordinary life this time around, and will do with joy whatever it take to have it.
Tonya Kay
raw-food athlete, Educator, coach, dancer, actress and singer
OTHER INFO
Biodiesel can be used as home heating oil, but rubber fuel lines might have to be replace.
Waste Vegetable Oil also can be used as home heating oil, after filtering and some modifications to the heating system.
LINKS:
Vegetable Oil conversion kits for vehicles
http://plantdrive.com
book: From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank; author: Joshua Tickell
http://www.joshuatickell.com/books_films.htm
Making Biodiesel the Easy Way
http://www.biodieselwarehouse.com
TOURS of SOLAR HOMES and SOLAR BUILDINGS
http://southafrica.indymedia.org/news/2006/06/10600.php
http://bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=25072
http://www.ases.org/tour
http://www.ases.org/tour/2005_tour/California.htm
http://www.homepower.com/events/index.cfm
http://www.solarliving.org
http://www.solarhouseday.com/index01.shtml
http://www.homepower.com/links/non_profit.cfm
http://www.solarhouseday.com
Alternative Car Links
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/06/114492.php
http://bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=25073
eco recycling - saving Energy and water intelligently
http://victoria.indymedia.org/news/2006/06/50235.php
PEAK OIL and Permaculture
http://hawaii.indymedia.org/news/2006/05/5774.php
http://thunderbay.indymedia.org/news/2006/05/23436.php
http://bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=25013
Solar energy, solar heated homes - buildings
Solar heated swimming pools, spas and hot tubs.
~~Advanced Sustainable Technologies for Economic Progress
http://www.thunderbay.indymedia.org/news/2005/11/21689.php
http://istanbul.indymedia.org/news/2005/11/82627.php
Organic food for all.
People and students from around the country are setting up organic gardens to feed the poor and to give fresh produce to food banks.
Volunteers needed.
Grow a Row for your local food bank.
Please Help. Thank you.
http://hawaii.indymedia.org/news/2006/06/5894.php
http://bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=25075
Please support LOCAL Organic FAMILY farmers. Please use sustainable technology.
COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE (CSA)
keeping our communities Safe from Peak Oil
------------------
http://www.cuco.org.uk/index.php?page=3
http://www.localharvest.org/csa
http://www.localharvest.org/csa.jsp
http://www.eatlocal.org/Ideas.html
http://victoria.indymedia.org/news/2006/06/50327.php
http://bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=25077
(Note: you can save this web page to your hard drive. Then you can open the saved file on your hard drive and click on the links to access the web sites)
Please email this web page to your friends and to people who are concerned about our future and our Grandchildren’s future. Thank you.
For more information:
http://tonyakay.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=333
Add Your Comments
Comments
(Hide Comments)
But unfortunately, and like so many alternative energy "solutions," that's all it is.
To shift even a decent percentage of current auto fuel demand to agriculturally derived sources, we'd have to convert untold NEW millions of acres worldwide to cultivation. The tragic ecologic consequences of this reality are already unfolding. Orangutans, already perilously endangered, are literally being beaten to death by Indonesian palm oil farmers, whose plantations are consuming all of Borneo. This is happening mainly because of unlimited European demand for palm oil as biodiesel fuel.
http://www.orangutans-sos.org/campaigns/palmoil.php
I literally feel ill thinking about this. This is one of the most appalling environmental tragedies going on today. Orangutans are only a symbol of what's happening to the incredible, unique, and deeply ancient biodiversity of Borneo as a whole. As with most onslaughts on the world's tropical rain forests, the prevailing attitude in the West is "ah well, can't see it from my house." Hipster lip service does not cancel this.
Next to strip mining and massive "real estate development," agriculture is the most devastating thing you can do to an environment. This is the sad truth we have to face. Despite its nasty environmental rep, petroleum production is surreal in the way it minimizes environmental damage per BTU delivered to market. To replace the energy value of current mid-east oil production with biofuels, for example, we'd have to put most of the remaining fallow land in Africa under cultivation. I might be grossly underestimating here. Bye-bye rhinos, bye-bye lions and cheetahs. Fossil fuels are not unique in generating greenhouse gas; biofuels are just as bad. At the same time clearing of tropical forests for agriculture tips the earth's thermal balance even further toward heating. This is the other half of what's going on with global warming.
Reusing fryer grease from restaurants is a different scenario, a rare win-win, environmentally. This source is however miniscule relative to overall fuel demand
If we are REALLY going to save this earth from ourselves, we're going to have to do things like drastically overhaul our entire economy and culture to maximize energy efficiency and also
reduce population
reduce population
reduce population
Environmentalists keep refusing to face this. It's too much of a political fire-bomb. What they have to realize is that the ultimate costs of NOT facing it are even worse
To shift even a decent percentage of current auto fuel demand to agriculturally derived sources, we'd have to convert untold NEW millions of acres worldwide to cultivation. The tragic ecologic consequences of this reality are already unfolding. Orangutans, already perilously endangered, are literally being beaten to death by Indonesian palm oil farmers, whose plantations are consuming all of Borneo. This is happening mainly because of unlimited European demand for palm oil as biodiesel fuel.
http://www.orangutans-sos.org/campaigns/palmoil.php
I literally feel ill thinking about this. This is one of the most appalling environmental tragedies going on today. Orangutans are only a symbol of what's happening to the incredible, unique, and deeply ancient biodiversity of Borneo as a whole. As with most onslaughts on the world's tropical rain forests, the prevailing attitude in the West is "ah well, can't see it from my house." Hipster lip service does not cancel this.
Next to strip mining and massive "real estate development," agriculture is the most devastating thing you can do to an environment. This is the sad truth we have to face. Despite its nasty environmental rep, petroleum production is surreal in the way it minimizes environmental damage per BTU delivered to market. To replace the energy value of current mid-east oil production with biofuels, for example, we'd have to put most of the remaining fallow land in Africa under cultivation. I might be grossly underestimating here. Bye-bye rhinos, bye-bye lions and cheetahs. Fossil fuels are not unique in generating greenhouse gas; biofuels are just as bad. At the same time clearing of tropical forests for agriculture tips the earth's thermal balance even further toward heating. This is the other half of what's going on with global warming.
Reusing fryer grease from restaurants is a different scenario, a rare win-win, environmentally. This source is however miniscule relative to overall fuel demand
If we are REALLY going to save this earth from ourselves, we're going to have to do things like drastically overhaul our entire economy and culture to maximize energy efficiency and also
reduce population
reduce population
reduce population
Environmentalists keep refusing to face this. It's too much of a political fire-bomb. What they have to realize is that the ultimate costs of NOT facing it are even worse
Biodiesel and WVO are not the same thing. No one is tearing down any rain forests for WVO. The fuel that is used in WVO cars is WASTE vegetable oil, a byproduct of the fast food industry. Now, I am a raw foodist and would personally love to see the rain forest and all fields for that matter saved due to lack of interest in placing these deep fried atrocities in our own bodies, but until that happens, shouldn't we go ahead and save that used cooker grease from landfills or your soaps and cosmetics? Biodiesel and WVO are not the same thing.
By the way, I don't know how my article wound up here, but I'm glad to see that you printed it and are helping spread the word about WVO.
It would have been nice to have been contacted first, or perhaps you could have published the article in it's entirity as written, or possibly you might have linked to me, the author, as a respectful reciprocation (http://tonyakay.com).
Nonetheless, thank you for spreading the word and let's get these WVO machines flying!
By the way, I don't know how my article wound up here, but I'm glad to see that you printed it and are helping spread the word about WVO.
It would have been nice to have been contacted first, or perhaps you could have published the article in it's entirity as written, or possibly you might have linked to me, the author, as a respectful reciprocation (http://tonyakay.com).
Nonetheless, thank you for spreading the word and let's get these WVO machines flying!
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