Vegetable oil fuels converted Jetta
When people find out that Jeffersonville residents Craig MacInnes and Amy McClain drive a car that runs on waste vegetable oil, "their jaws drop," MacInnes said.
Some of the people are skeptical or ask such questions as: "Does your car smell like French fries?"
McClain, 39, heard about converting a diesel car to burn on waste vegetable oil and pitched the idea to MacInnes, 45, who was originally less than enthusiastic about it.
McClain said she was "sick of buying gas, and I am just stubborn enough to think I shouldn't have to do it anymore."
They were going to need another automobile soon, and McClain thought a converted vehicle would be a more economical and ecological choice.
"I wanted to get a car that got about 40 miles to a gallon or better, and there are not that many out there. This seemed like a win-win -- less money, better gas mileage and better emissions," she said.
"She wasn't having much success in getting me too interested at first," MacInnes acknowledged.
In June their church, Clifton Unitarian in Louisville, held a Sustainability Fair, and MacInnes was assigned to help a group that converts cars to run on waste oil.
He spent about eight hours talking to them, he recalled. "It occurred to me that this was very doable. It wasn't this ridiculous, far-out notion and not too hard to do, really."
Once MacInnes was convinced, things moved quickly.
First they had to find a car that ran on diesel. While searching eBay, they found a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta wagon in their price range and bid on it. Several days later they were on their way to North Carolina to pick it up.
"We didn't anticipate winning that auction. Once we got the car, things started to snowball," McClain said.
She already had done her homework and knew where to buy the converter and who should install it. They ordered the conversion kit for almost $1,000 and had it installed for around $800.
Next, they had to find a supply of waste vegetable oil.
MacInnes said they use non-hydrogenated oil -- soy or canola is recommended -- because it stays liquid at room temperature. After four days of visiting restaurants, they found two businesses willing to hand over their waste oil instead of putting it down their grease traps or in dumpsters.
Only about three weeks had passed between the fair and the day the couple drove their converted vehicle home.
"One thing I liked about it was that the $1,800 that we spent for the kit and the installation -- we were going to spend that $1,800 on fuel anyway," said MacInnes, a chemical dependency counselor for Jefferson Alcohol and Drug Abuse Center in Louisville.
"When I look back, we were paying between $200 to $300 a month just in gas. We can recoup that $1,800 in seven to nine months easily," McClain said.
The car can run on either vegetable oil or diesel fuel. When it's first started, it runs on diesel until the oil warms to about 190 degrees, which takes about five minutes. When a toggle switch on the dashboard is flipped, the car starts running on waste oil.
The oil tank holds 10 gallons, so if they find themselves running out of the oil, they can switch to diesel until they refill the tank. Before shutting down the car, they switch back to diesel to flush out the fuel line for 10 seconds.
The car gets 40 to 45 miles per gallon.
McClain figures that she drives more than 250 miles a week as a school psychologist in Louisville. She buys diesel fuel about every six weeks and the rest of the time runs on the free waste oil.
The conversion kit fits neatly in the space where the spare tire rests, and another fuel filter is fitted under the hood. The only visible difference in the car is the toggle switch on the dash and two gauges on the steering column. One shows the temperature of the oil, the other is the oil's fuel gauge.
MacInnes picks up the waste oil at one restaurant each week, and less often at another restaurant. It's packaged in the five-gallon containers the oil originally came in. He takes it home to his garage, where he pours it through a hanging-bag filter that removes impurities, then transfers it back to the containers -- and the oil is ready to use.
"I have timed it. It takes me five minutes to refuel and that is with going inside and washing my hands afterward," McClain said. "For me, it is no more time-consuming than stopping at a gas station."
The pair recently took a five-hour trip to southeastern Ohio. They filled up the oil tank and put an extra five-gallon container in the back because they weren't sure how much fuel it would take. "The last time we made that trip, we spent about $100 on gas. This time we used around 13 gallons" of waste oil, McClain said.
If their supply had gotten low, there are several places in the area that sell pre-filtered waste oil for about $1.50 per gallon, they said. And if they plan a cross-country trip, they could join an online co-op that would help them find sources of oil.
"For us, this is a grand experiment and we are still kind of towards the beginning of it, but so far it has been going very well," MacInnes said. "We are very happy with it."
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007709121000
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