Lifting Oil

Although Tuesday is our scheduled pick-up day from the Mexican restaurant, we agreed to help a friend with her booth at the Kentucky State Fair this evening. Since I needed to carry a bunch of stuff to work I drove the grease mobile today but planned to switch off with Craig and take the scooter after we left the fair. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my helmet and I married a guy with a big head. Since it was already 10:00 when I escaped the fairground traffic I just decided to pick up the grease myself and save the big headed guy an extra trip. Sure enough when I arrived at the restaurant there were two 5-gallon jugs of WVO sitting outside the back entrance waiting for my arrival. Although we've never actually weighed our WVO, a gallon of water weighs 8.33 lbs so even with water being heavier than oil, when you factor in the canisters themselves, I think it's safe to assume that each container weighed around 40 lbs. One at a time I lifted both jugs into the back of the car, mentally chalking this up as my weight-training session for the week. As my luck would have it just as soon as I finished the task a restaurant employee exited the building. Despite the language barriers I understood him to comment on my late arrival and the fact that they've come to depend on our weekly visits. I tried to assure him that I just had another commitment earlier in the evening and reiterated our gratitude for their supply of oil. Perhaps in addition to increasing my workouts at the gym I should look into a Spanish language course.

35 Gallons of Oil

We have OIL!!! The restaurant that decided to change to non-hydrogenated oil so we could recycle their waste generously provided us with 20 gallons of free fuel. It just so happens that today being Tuesday we also received 15 gallons of WVO from our Mexican restaurant so Craig is in the process of filtering 35 gallons of oil in the garage while I take photos.

Green Cities

My brother-in-law sent me the following link which explains how the city of Rialto, CA - a suburb of Los Angeles - in partnership with Chevron built a wastewater treatment system which converts WVO into electricity. In addition to significantly reducing carbon dioxide emissions, and curtailing landfill waste, the city (population 100,000) is projecting an annual savings of $800,000. Millbrae, located about 15 miles outside of San Francisco, has a similar system operating at their wastewater treatment facility which converts 3,000 gallons of WVO into renewable, clean power each day.

Obviously, if municipalities start collecting and converting WVO there will be little if any fuel available for our personal grease mobile but I'm not too concerned. As a resident of the midwest I know from experience that it takes many years - and sometimes decades - for California trends to reach us out here in the heartland. I don't expect the Jetta to last indefinitely, and my desire is for new technologies and options to be available when the grease mobile expires and we purchase another vehicle. Maybe in another 5-10 years the price of a Tesla will decrease enough to make it financially viable for our household.

The other perspective is that I look forward to the possibility of living in a community that is more environmentally responsible. Imagine the impact to the city's air quality if 11 million pounds of carbon dioxide were removed from the atmosphere annually - that's equivalent to eliminating 1080 vehicles and their emissions from our roads. Although each of us can and should do our part, the potential for great change rests with the larger systems in our communities.

Going to Ohio

We're headed to Southeastern Ohio this weekend to visit my family on top of ol' Connett Hill. Round trip it's 530 miles which I'm determined to travel while burning WVO. Since we've never made a trip of this length in the grease mobile, I thought it wise to purchase some additional oil from GoodOil so there was less chance of us running empty. After contacting one of the owners, I drove by their garage where I purchased 15 gallons of filtered WVO for $22.50 - or $1.50 a gallon. In addition to our luggage, we plan to load the car with 10 or 15 extra gallons of oil and our large funnel so we can refuel at my dad's house. Fortunately with the wagon we have plenty of space for all our gear.

Mexican Oil and Fuel Filters

Craig picks up our oil from the Mexican restaurant on Tuesdays. Although there were some problems with storage last week, everything went as planned today and we are now in possession of 10 more free gallons of fuel.

Decided to order some new filters this evening from Greasecar. At $10 a filter we sprung for the 5/1 micron bags which consist of a 5 micron bag which blocks the coarser particles, and then a 1 micron outer bag which removes 99% of particles. Given our current rate of consumption, it appears that we'll need to utilize one filter a month although that may change depending on the quality of the oil we receive.

Another Source of WVO

Earlier I reported about the restaurant that was utilizing hydrogenated oil (which we can't use) but were so determined to support our efforts that they were considering changing to non-hydrogenated oils. Well today we heard from the owner of the restaurant, who said they decided to change the oil they cook with and will have a supply of WVO for us later next week. I am amazed at their commitment in becoming an environmentally friendly fuel source. Yet another unintended byproduct of this process is connecting with good people that we otherwise might not encounter.

Check Up

Phil at GoodOil wanted to check out the grease mobile after it was on the road for a couple weeks so I took it in today for it's exam. After discussing the concerns we had regarding the high temperature reading on our trip to Cincinnati, Phil reassured me that high temperatures are not as problematic as low temperatures and that our oil is unlikely to ever become hotter than the engine. Once he was done examining all the various components (while I read a magazine in the air-conditioned waiting room) he provided our vehicle with a clean bill of health.

On Tuesday's Craig obtains WVO from a local Mexican restaurant but tonight when he stopped by the eatery he discovered that the employees had failed to secure the oil in the standard 5 gallon containers but instead they stored it in a large plastic container with a lid that didn't close properly exposing the oil to the elements. In response, Craig was forced to drive home, grab our funnel and several 5 gallon containers before returning to the restaurant and transferring the WVO. Obviously we still have a few kinks to work out of the system.

Picking Up Oil

On Tuesdays we obtain WVO from a Mexican restaurant. Fortunately for us, the restaurant only uses oil to fry tortilla chips so it's relatively clean. We were already driving around town completing various errands so Craig simply called the restaurant manager, she placed the containers outside the rear entrance and we picked them up on our way back to the house. The restaurant is only 7 miles from our home so the entire process took less than 15 minutes and was comparable to picking up a pizza (actually this was easier in that they didn't mess up my order). I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, to experience some aspect of this system that is more labor intensive or expensive than we anticipated but so far it's benefits far outweigh our investments.

Ooops - Hydrogenated Oil

This afternoon Craig drove to our second source of WVO to obtain a few gallons of fuel. It was only after loading several containers that Craig realized the oil was hydrogenated which is not only unhealthy for humans but undesirable for greasecars due to it's potential to clog fuel lines. Once the situation was explained to the restaurant employees they appeared more disappointed than Craig, and decided to explore the possibility of switching to a non-hydrogenated frying oil. Obviously cost will be a primary factor in their decision but they are committed to environmental issues and are by far the most enthusiastic vendors we've encountered. So it's possible that our efforts will not only significantly reduce our emissions but also improve the health of the diners frequenting our suppliers.

13 gallons

Mr. Muscles - aka Craig - went by one of our restaurants today and procured 13 gallons of WVO for us to filter. Given that gas mileage for our car is between 40-45 mpg thats 520-585 miles of driving for FREE! We have another pickup Saturday from our second source.

Purchasing Fuel

Today I drove over to GoodOil and purchased 10 gallons of filtered WVO for the car, paying a grand total of $15 for a fill up (our veg oil tank holds 13 gallons but it's still a quarter full). I also filled up the diesel tank for $27.09 ( 9.67 gallons @ $2.79). On the highway the Jetta is rated at 45 mpg so conceivably we could drive 1170 miles before spending another penny on fuel. Obviously we want to do most of our driving on the WVO, using the diesel only to warm the engine after initial starts.

WVO Sources

The GoodOil guys called us with the names/numbers of three different local restaurants that are wanting to supply WVO for grease car owners so we're one step closer to obtaining and filtering our own fuel supply. I think it's comical that very soon the gas guzzler in our household will be our Honda Helix which gets 65 mpg.

Missionaries

We have become missionaries proselytizing our beliefs in WVO to our friends and acquaintances. It's worse even than when we became adherents of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Like all good zealots, we promote our grease car in casual conversations with strangers, send out mass e-mails touting our cause and have become somewhat restricted in our interests. When it was time to select a restaurant to eat at with friends tonight our decision making was influenced by the prospect of a quality oil supply. Fortunately, there is a strong association between desirable WVO and healthy, delicious food so our thinking process wasn't detrimental to our guests. Of course we strongly encouraged them to ride in our car which they agreed to being curious individuals as well as environmentally conscious. The first thing that seems to strike most of our passengers is how common and ordinary our car seems both in its outward appearance and driving performance. Without watching the toggle switch or gauges there really is no way to discern the difference between driving on WVO from diesel.

Our Greasecar

We picked up our greasecar this evening at GoodOil! The proprietor was kind enough to take considerable time showing us all the features and answering my many, many questions. Basically, they removed our spare tire and replaced the space with a second fuel tank which holds the waste vegetable oil (WVO)

We'll continue to start the car using diesel but then after the engine reaches 190 degrees there's a toggle switch which we use to change over to WVO

An extra gauge was added above the steering wheel so we can monitor the consumption of vegetable oil - but at 40 mpg on the highway the needle doesn't move much

Here's a photo of the engine with it's extra hoses and filter


Craig drove the car to his volleyball game tonight and one of the first comments his teammate made was "it looks just like a regular car"

Finding Grease

Craig's been to several Asian restaurants as well as our local cafe and hasn't had any luck obtaining used vegetable oil. Although Chinese restaurants are reputed to have quality cooking oil, crossing the language barrier has proven difficult. "You want what and why?" While most restaurants pay someone to remove their waste oil, we're offering to take it off their hands for no cost but I think the concept is difficult for people to accept or even believe. Obviously this aspect of the transition is going to take more energy and effort than I expected. Who knew it would be so difficult to relieve business of their waste for free? On the positive side, we're eating lots of good food in the process.

It's interesting that most of the time when I tell someone about our project their first response or criticism is that our exhaust will smell like french fries or egg rolls. It's as if everyone's been handed a script and recites a similar refrain. What's especially amusing to me is the concept that the odor of food would in some way be less desirable than typical exhaust fumes.

In other news, Craig's preparing his BMW for sale so we'll have one less car at the house as well as some extra funds. Anybody want a 20 year old BMW with lots of liberal bumper stickers?

Road Trip

The scenery is a huge benefit of our odyssey. Driving through the mountains of West Virginia I am reminded of similar trips with my family when I was much younger and my mother would encourage us look out the windows of the RV instead of wasting our afternoons napping. How can anyone not be a "tree hugger" after exposure to our country's splendid vistas. Waste vegetable oil (WVO) is the only carbon neutral fuel available to us at this time and our determination to utilize less crude oil by substituting an alternative fuel source is a small step toward reducing our carbon footprint.