A Good Question

Last week one of our passengers - a very bright tween - asked about emissions from the greasecar. I know that WVO is a carbon neutral fuel (it's created from plants that absorb more CO2 from the air than is released when the oil is burned, and therefore doesn't contribute additional CO2 in the atmosphere) and that it doesn't contain any sulfur which is a carcinogen. Additionally, by collecting oil from restaurants we are basically driving on a renewable, recycled waste product. But I wanted to know more so I spent some time this evening Googling greasecar emmisions and discovered that there actually is some research documenting the advantages of burning vegetable oil over diesel. In the interest of full disclosure most studies utilized straight vegetable oil (SVO), like canola from a bottle, instead of WVO which is highly variable depending on the source or manner of use.

Greasecar compared emissions from diesel, SVO, homemade biodiesel and professional biodiese, burned in a 1981 VW Vanogon. Although nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions remained stable the use of SVO reduced carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM). Similar tests by the National VegOil Board examined the difference between ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) and SVO as burned by a 2002 VW Golf, and documented reductions in total hydrocarbons (THC), carbon dioxide (CO2), CO, and NOx, leading them to assert that "vegetable oil represents one of the best "green" fuels available at this time".



So now the next time I'm driving through the city and there's an Air Quality Alert being broadcast from all the electronic highway signs, cautioning the elderly and children to remain indoors, I'll know that I've made an effort to reduce the negative impact my transportation has on the quality of air we all breathe.