[Vwdiesel] Fw: NYTimes.com Article: Recipe for Car Power: Heat Vegetable Oil, Flip Switch and Go.

Thu Apr 24 10:36:57 EDT 2003

Thanks for the great article Scott. I remember when Jon was 1st converting his
300sd last year. And, greasel.com has been a great resource for people
converting their diesels. Check them out. Charlie (owner) is a great guy!

Ken

Quoting Scott Kair <scott3491 at insightbb.com>:

>     From another list.  Just a few short years ago, positive mention in the
> New York Times was quite unlikely.
>     Cheers,
>     Scott Kair
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2003 1:24 AM
> Subject: NYTimes.com Article: Recipe for Car Power: Heat Vegetable Oil, Flip
> Switch and Go.
>
>
> > Recipe for Car Power: Heat Vegetable Oil, Flip Switch and Go.
> >
> > April 22, 2003
> > By CHRIS DIXON
> >
> >
> >
> > LOS ANGELES, April 21 - "I wouldn't do this to a $30,000
> > car unless I was confident that it would work."
> >
> > With that, John Lin, owner of a Los Angeles fast-food
> > franchise, opened the door of an opulent white Ford
> > Excursion.
> >
> > Powered by a seven-liter turbo-diesel engine that delivers
> > just 13 miles a gallon, this oversize S.U.V. seemed the
> > quintessential environmentalist's target. Yet soon, Mr. Lin
> > will be paying less to fuel it than he would pay if he
> > owned a Toyota Prius, which supplements gasoline with
> > electricity. As an added benefit, he will sharply reduce
> > the pollution.
> >
> > Mr. Lin will not use a radical new mileage-boosting
> > technology, but rather he will use simple vegetable oil,
> > the same cheap, plentiful and clean-burning fuel that
> > Rudolf Diesel used to power his first engine at the 1900
> > Paris World's Fair.
> >
> > Normally, a restaurateur like Mr. Lin would have to pay
> > someone to haul off the 10 gallons of vegetable oil used
> > each day in his fryers. The oil would be dumped in a
> > landfill, or perhaps used in animal feed. Instead, Mr. Lin
> > will filter his oil and pour it into a heated auxiliary
> > tank on the Excursion.
> >
> > He will then start the vehicle on regular diesel, and after
> > a few minutes, when the vegetable oil becomes more viscous
> > in the heater, a manual switch will direct it to the diesel
> > engine. From there, the only detectable difference will be
> > the faint odor of French fries, and a noticeable lack of
> > diesel stench.
> >
> > The change in odor, however, is not the only benefit to be
> > gained. In 1998, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory
> > released a study on a fuel called biodiesel. Essentially
> > vegetable oil with methanol and lye added to aid
> > cold-weather flow and remove glycerin, biodiesel results in
> > fewer harmful emissions than petroleum-based diesel.
> >
> > Carbon monoxide emissions are reduced by 43 percent,
> > hydrocarbons by 56 percent, particulates by 55 percent and
> > sulfurs, a particular problem with petroleum diesel, are
> > reduced by 100 percent.
> >
> > Typically, biodiesel fuel costs at least as much as regular
> > diesel. But straight vegetable oil is essentially free; Mr.
> > Lin says most restaurant owners are more than happy to get
> > rid of it. And unlike biodiesel, it does not require
> > methanol and lye. It does, however, require a fairly simple
> > conversion system that consists of a vegetable oil tank and
> > a fuel heater.
> >
> > A couple of years ago, after much online research, Mr. Lin
> > bought a 1983 Mercedes 300SD Turbodiesel for $3,000 and got
> > in touch with a diesel enthusiast, Charlie Anderson. Mr.
> > Anderson, a farmer in Drury, Mo., had just founded a
> > company called Greasel. For $500, Mr. Anderson sold Mr. Lin
> > one of his first vegetable-oil-to-diesel conversion kits
> > and coached Mr. Lin on installing it.
> >
> > "I said, If it blows up, it blows up," Mr. Lin said, "and
> > I'm only out $3,000. But I installed the system, flipped
> > the switch, and sure enough, the thing works."
> >
> > Mr. Lin found that vegetable oil led to no noticeable loss
> > in power or mileage. In fact, he said, it smoothed the
> > engine's idle. This came as no surprise to Mr. Anderson,
> > who has now installed hundreds of systems in a variety of
> > diesel vehicles - Volkswagen TDI's, tractors, large Dodge
> > four-by-fours and even a used Greyhound bus. In addition,
> > Greasel has sold hundreds more of its units to
> > do-it-yourselfers.
> >
> > "Even if people are paying the same for this as diesel," he
> > said, "it's just so much better for the environment. A dog
> > can lick this stuff right off the ground."
> >
> > If biodiesel or straight vegetable oil are so much better
> > as fuels, why aren't they in widespread use? Simple
> > economics is how Russ Teall, a biodiesel refiner and
> > president of Biodiesel Industries, sees it. "Basically the
> > cost of virgin vegetable oil is too high," he said. "It
> > costs from $1.65 to $2 a gallon. At the wholesale level,
> > petroleum diesel varies from 60 cents to $1.20 in
> > California."
> >
> > Mr. Teall also says a lack of transportation and refining
> > infrastructure have discouraged a shift to biofuel.
> >
> > But Joe Jobe, president of the National Biodiesel Board,
> > said this was changing rapidly as a result of smaller
> > refining plants and a worldwide glut of vegetable oil.
> >
> > "The price of vegetable oils and diesels are beginning to
> > come closer because of the growing demand for soy protein
> > for food," Mr. Jobe said. "When you grind up soybeans, you
> > get 80 percent soy meal and 20 percent oil." Furthermore,
> > he said, biodiesel can also be made easily from waste
> > restaurant oil.
> >
> >
> http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/22/science/earth/22FUEL.html?ex=1052133441&ei
> =1&en=8057b190efb32d23
> >
> > Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company
> >
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> vwdiesel mailing list
> vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel
>

--