7,500 Miles On $5 In Gas, Veggie Oil (teenager)

[donsu]

http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2006/08/18/7500-miles-on-5-worth-of-fuel/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Fstories%2F2006%2F08%2F18%2Fearlyshow%2Fmain1910319.shtml&frame=true



7,500 Miles On $5 In Gas, Veggie Oil
High Schooler Does It In Pickup Running Mainly On Cooking Oil

It's one thing to be fed up with high gas prices, but Atlanta high school senior Bill Bridgers decided to do something about it.

He converted his diesel pickup truck to run almost exclusively on used vegetable oil, and for the past three weeks he has been driving across the country with his father and a friend, filling people in on alternative fuel possibilities.

Bridgers calls the project VegTheUSA.

-snip-

The technology to retrofit the truck is "all over the Internet," Bridgers says.

He has a huge filter "to get the mandarin chicken" and other food particles and impurities out of the oil, which is then heated to 180 degrees, and pumped into the truck's engine.

-snip-

Gasoline is only used when the truck is first turned on, then just before it's turned off.
-snip-
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yea!! for teenagers

wonder why Pimp My Ride, OverHauling and the other TV car shows (motorcycles?) haven't given at least one show over to this? or have they?

[patricia92243]

1. Wow! Assume when used veggie oil runs out (or not enough to go around)

that fresh veggie oil can be used. I wonder how much veggie oil he had to use to go the 7500 miles. In other words, would it be economical to use fresh veggie oil?

[buzzard]

2. I think that is a great idea but if too many people start doing this

the government or some corporation will find a way to make it illegal to convert over to this method for reasons I can't think of right now. (It will create a shortage of oil for those deep fryers)

[Fridays Child]

9. Yep. Maybe they'll find a way to make it immoral...

...like when hemp was outlawed because America's youth were in danger of corruption by "reefer madness."

[donsu]

15. that's not why hemp was outlawed. the oil barons outlawed it so Ford

wouldn't use it for fuel.

hemp is not maryjane. you can't get high off of hemp

[Truthiness Inspector]

3. Wow!

Good idea about car tv shows. Maybe we should all send them the link to this story and ask them to do a show on it. I bet lots of people would be interested.

[RufusEarl]

4. Earth Bio Fuels

Here's a link that i find interesting http://www.earthbiofuels.net/index.php Seems Willie Nelson and some of his friends have been doing this for some time, and have now gone public.

I'm thinking of investing in this company, it's a win win the way i look at it. If this new fuel cut's just 10% of consumption of foreign oil and cuts pollution by 10% it's a win win, making money off of it is not the driving force i only wish our government saw it the same way.

[wordpix2]

5. funny how a teenager can accomplish this but car corporations/BigOil can't

[LTR]

6. That's remarkable!

And we're talking some high school kid here. I'm in awe!

The feel-good story of the day. A strong K&R here!

[slaveplanet]

7. Oh My

Gasoline is only used when the truck is first turned on, then just before it's turned off.

I certainly wouldn't recommend starting that veggie car with gasoline.

[LTR]

8. I hope he meant 'diesel'

Probably.

As for a 'veggie car', something's gotta get the thing up and going. Then, when the cooking oil is warm enough, that takes over.

[prole_for_peace]

10. i've heard the exhaust from these smell like french fries.

that is all i need. i will be sitting in traffice and get an uncontrollable urge for something fried.

that said, i saw the guys on mythbusters do this. they ran a diesel mercedes on used oil. they just put it directly into the tank. it got a few less miles per gallon than the diesel but since it is so much cheaper or even free, i don't think that matters.

[Deja Q]

11. Wasn't this a hoax?

Hope it isn't...

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

14. Nope, lots of people have converted their cars to run on biodiesel.

All you need is a diesel car and the mechanical skills to do it.

[Staph]

12. A good friend of mine did the same thing this summer.

David Hackleman, a chemical engineering professor at Oregon State, travelled coast to coast this summer in his truck, using bio-diesel all the way. His eventual destination for this trip was the National Youth Science Camp, where he spoke about the future to 100 of the nation's smartest high school science students.

For more on Dave's trip, go to http://www.medfordnews.com/articles/index.cfm?artOID=331459&cp=10996

[TlalocW]

13. This just in...

Republican leadership in Washington has announced new findings that show a vast resevoir of cooking oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and plan to once again immediately submit a bill to open up ANWR for drilling.

TlalocW