I've always considered myself a (sort of) environmentalist. But recently I've been thinking about doing more than the usual recycle and water conservation. There are two areas that I spend the most natural resources and make the environment worse - driving my car & fueling my home.
I started off with my car, which I recently converted to run on used vegtabel oil. I'll talk about my home in a future blog.
I drove 2219 miles on a single tank of diesel gas. I actually could have done better than that but now I have to wait another month until I full up again and see quite how far I can go. I’m pretty sure I can get to at least 2400 miles.
I recently bought a used MB Turbo Diesel and converted it to run on used vegetable oil. While many people have seen articles on this, I was quite naïve to it all until my good friend Colin converted his VW Beetle. Most diesel engines run on diesel fuel but can also run on vegetable oil. The conversion consists of a secondary tank that is in my spare tire well, and an extra filter and switches under my hood. I also have a switch in my dash board that allows me to switch from diesel to V-oil when I want to.
Great Economics:
Here are the numbers. I filled up my diesel tank which is a 20 gallon tank. I then got veggie oil from a local restaurant, filtered it, and put filled my vegetable oil tank whenever it was low. The restaurants were thrilled to have me take it as they currently pay close to $1 per gallon to have it removed. I probably save them $150 per month.
Cost to go 2219 miles
Cost of diesel: 15.2 gallons @ $2.95/gal = $45.00
Cost of my time to pick up oil & filter for month is 1 hour @ $100/hr = $100
Cost of filters $10
Total Cost: $155
At my rate of driving, the conversion system will pay for itself in about 8 months. Not bad compared to other solutions including ethanol (never) and electric hybrid engines (9 years according to consumer reports).
Good for the Environment
Historically, diesels have had a bad rap because of the larger amounts of sulfur, the cars had lots of bellowing soot, are smelly, and noisy. First, new diesel engines are much more efficient, quiet, smoother, and still great mileage (32-55 miles/gallon). I get 32 miles per gallon (oil or diesel) in mixed driving and the same car using regular gas only gets about 19mpg. Second, with new regulations in place, low sulfur diesel is now at the gas stations. Finally, I still get the performance in my car that I am used without the pollution. There are not many cars on the road that have the same torque and acceleration that mine has.
Vegetable oil produces absolutely no sulfur. None, zip, NADA! In fact, it’s even good for carbon dioxide release. It only releases the same amount that the vegetable plant (corn, soybean, etc) absorbed from the atmosphere in the first place. Our good President has discovered our “addition” to fossil fuels, so I’m happy to help reduce our dependency on foreign oil in my little way. What an inspiration he has been!
Those who know me will tell you that there is really nothing special about me. While I like to try new things, I’m not a radical – but I’m a practical. I like things that work, make sense, and are not too much trouble. If I can do this, you can too.
If I’ve bothered you with yet another email, I apologize, simply delete me. If you like what I’m doing and want to help, you can do so in a few ways:
Ask me questions –
If you are curious, send me an email and ask away. I’ll try my best. You can also check out www.vegacrossamerica.com
Pass it forward –
If you know someone who would be interested in this pass it along. We all hate useless email, so be selective.
If you or your friend, contractor has a diesel Truck, RV, or car, send them our info.
Or
Scrap your petroleum car and go diesel – veggie before the price of gas gets above $3.00 a galloon. Oops!
