My Vegetable Oil Fuel Car
Today we’re cruising in my veggie car to go skiing at Mammoth Mountain here in California. I’m looking forward to snowboarding and traveling a healthy way.
As some of you may know, my car runs on vegetable oil. Yes, that’s right, fry oil from restaurants! It’s been filtered, so it’s safe to use in my car, but it’s essentially used vegetable oil.
My car is vegetarian too! My own silly joke…
My car runs on Diesel, so I purchased a conversion kit about 3 years ago that allows me to switch between Diesel fuel and vegetable oil.
Why did I make the switch? I asked myself, is there a way that I can make a difference in the world, even if it’s in a small way. I heard about this concept and searched out a diesel car that I could convert and here you see it in the video. My Volkswagon Golf TDI. I love this car!
I feel like I’m contributing to a healthier, cleaner world.
We are always voting with our dollars, so I’ve decided NOT to give money to the big petroleum companies and put my money towards a better cause. That’s my way of making a contribution.
You can make a contribution to a healthier environment in your own expression. This was my way. Not saying everybody needs to do this exact project, just thought I would share Kardena’s world.
The night we left for our trip we have to get the vegetable oil tank filled and ready to go. We just fill the veggie oil tank with the dark-colored vegetable oil from a 50 gallon drum I have and we use a small pump, and we’re good to go!
FYI- I have a delivery company drop the oil to my house. I do have the equipment to filter the oil myself (a simple pump and filter system), but really I don’t have the time to pick up the oil from restaurants and filter it at home.
The oil tank fits very snug in my trunk. It’s a little car but it has as much room as I need, plus I have the roof rack for skis, surf boards, mountain bikes, or travel case. This is our travel car and it gets a ton of use with all our outdoor activities.
In the front of my car there’s a switch which allows me to go back and forth between Diesel and veggie oil. There’s even an indicator light which tells me which fuel I’m using.
The heated tank sends the oil to the engine and guess what kind of mileage I get out of it? Try 600 miles to the veggie oil tank!, that’s about 40 miles to the gallon and Waste Veggie Oil produces half the carcinogenic particulates that diesel fuel produces.
It smells like french fries when I’m driving down the road! Kidding…
Do you know where used trans fat waste fry oil goes when it’s picked up from the restaurants? Most of it gets sent to companies that make pet food and feed stock! That’s crazy! If fried foods are not good for humans what-so-ever, why on Earth would we feed this toxic oil to our most precious doggies and kitties or livestock? No wonder animals are having more and more health problems! Not all pet foods use this toxic oil, but as far as I know the lesser quality pet foods are typically the companies who use it.
So for me, this is more than a diet, it’s a lifestyle. Healthy inside and ou
t!
How do you contribute to a healthier you and our sacred Earth?
Kardena Pauza
Author of EasyVeggieMealPlans.com
Hi Kardena, That’s amazing, I’ve never heard of a car running on Veggie Oil. That’s food for though…. I will have to look into this and seriously consider doing the same. Great for our Planet!
We have so far contributed by converting one of our cars to Gas and just recently had Solar Panel installed on the roof to generate our electricity.
Take Care
Cathy
Hi Cathy,
Food for thought, haha! Cute. Wow, you are doing your part! Solar is exciting! My friends in the desert have solar and they said it’s great because they give energy back to the grid and their meter reverses!
1st- you must have a diesel car to convert it to veggie oil.
2nd- have a kit put on the car
3rd- attain oil yourself and filter it or have a company drop off oil to your house. I have it dropped off since I’m too busy to pick up waste oil from restaurants and filter it myself. It’s also a little messy.
You may look on the internet for someone in your area. http://www.greendiesel.com drops filtered oil off to my home here in Socal.
“Be Gentle With the Environment”
Kardena
How did you find the company that will drop off the oil? I have wanted to do this but I was not sure where to turn?? 🙂
Hi Adam,
There are mechanics locally who put the conversion kit on my car and refereed me to greendiesel. You want to make sure the kit is done correctly fyi.
You can do a google search for your local area. http://www.vegoil.us/FuelSource.htm.
Remember you need to have a diesel car for the conversion to work.
Go Gettem!
Kardena
Thanks, Kardena, for a great post; you are truly an ispiration! If only more people were trying to find their own small ways to contribute, the world would be a much better place… You are so right in saying that we vote with our dollars. Speaking of money, I was just curious to ask you how using veggie oil compares moneywise to using conventional diesel? Of course you had some initial expenses with the conversion and pump etc. but just gallon vs gallon, how much do you pay for the veggie oil delivered to your home, the way you have the system in place?
Well, all I can say, keep up the good work! You have inspired me to try and do more than I’m currently doing in terms of protecting our environment.
Hi Paula,
Thanks, it’s neat how sharing our projects can inspire each other!
Yes there was some upfront expenses, but gallon for gallon here in Socal our fuel is not cheap! Diesel is $3.30/gallon and WVO (waste vegetable oil) is $2.50/gallon. So I save about .80 cents per gallon. When I order 50 gallons which is the size of my container, I save $40.
In other parts of the country diesel and WVO are cheaper.
Think outside the box,
Kardena
Excellent! Planning on doing this myself.
Hi Alex,
Excellent! Perry left a comment below stating he has used WVO on his farm for 10 years! That’s amazing! There’s lots of support out there.
I have used waste veggie oil in my farm truck for 10 years for you folks who want to do a little research on this look on the web for WVO , waste veggie oil, and bio diesel there are several companys that sell or will do conversions I even use it in my diesel tractor
Thanks Perry for your input and additions. That is so awesome that you have been using veggie oil in your truck for so long. I’m sure you are also inspiring others to do the same!