Last week I was interviewed by Timber Talk, a forestry radio station in Arkansas, which coincidentally took place at the North American International Auto show in Detroit, Michigan. Timber Talk approached me last fall after reading a post on VegTruck.com that dealt with using straight vegetable oil as a fuel source.
Fun fact: Timber Talk radio covers a population of 2,400,000 in three states.
We spoke for about 30 minutes on a [...]
Used-cooking-oil, the golden-brown waste product left over from making French-fries, doesn’t strike most of us as a particularly valuable commodity.
But recycled grease represents a source of cheap energy to some, one that can be converted to biodiesel or used directly as a substitute for diesel fuel. Having collected waste oil for both of these ends, I can tell you I’ve always had a nagging suspicion that one day the ‘free’ ride would come to a screeching halt. It just wasn’t clear how soon it would end.
Some parts of the country are now facing fierce competition over this generally unknown but ubiquitous local resource. The Associated Press has dubbed it the “Grease Wars”:
Recycled cooking oil has traditionally been sold for use in cattle feed and cosmetics. But the segment going to biofuels has grown in recent years to account for about 20 percent of the used oil market, said Tyson Keever, co-founder of Sequential Pacific Biofuels, the state’s largest manufacturer of biodiesel.
Portland’s oil peddlers are now fighting over grease worth as much as $1.20 a gallon. “You have processors now in the metro area who are looking at using that grease for biodiesel primarily,” said Mike McCallum, president and CEO of the Oregon Restaurant Association. “There are restaurants who are being solicited for the use of the grease and are getting some money for it.” The result in the long run may be more expensive biodiesel at the pump.
Last week, 46,000 revelers finally broke camp and split the scene of this year’s Burning Man festival, The Green Man. You could call it the "biggest party in the world," though it defies categorization and convention: part art, music, rave, pyrotechnics show, and costume orgy, it’s probably the only place in America you’d see a 1,000-foot-tall mushroom cloud intended for politically-minded artistic expression.
Yep, that’s right - a 1,000 ft. mushroom cloud, and no,
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It's all fun and games until the IRS knocks on your door. At least that's what Bob Teixeira must be thinking after his home state of North Carolina fined him $1,000 for converting his 1981 diesel Mercedes to run on straight-vegetable-oil (SVO). Bob was minding his own business when fuel inspectors, out to nab weekend-RVers using illegal fuel, noticed his "Powered By 100% Vegetable Oil" bumper sticker. After being fined
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