In my experience, this is sad but true. There is a core of vegcar (and other alternative fueled vehicle) owners who are willing to pay a little more to help reduce their carbon footprint. Putting green (energy) ahead of green (backs), if you will. Most people, however, are motivated by price. This is why I believe that we are only going to see significant change in energy consumption in this country, when one of the following happens:

• Gasoline is back above $4 per gallon
• Alternative fuels become cheaper than gas/diesel at the pump
• The air is no longer breathable

Josh Tickell, the author of the book, “From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank”, has just released the documentary film “Fuel”. For many of us, Josh’s book was one of the first sources of information available on how to run a car on waste vegetable oil. I haven’t seen it yet but look forward to checking it out.

Check out the trailer…

I get frequent questions about the best way to filter oil. After three years of filtering oil, I have tried many different set ups and arrived at a pretty simple setup that works well for me. Here is a short video tour of how to set up a do-it-yourself system for filtering waste vegetable oil.

Note: The clicking sounds you hear are from a woodpecker just outside the barn. I’ll try to redo this video to improve the quality.

One popular question I get is how to set up a home fueling station. Here is a short video showing my home filling station for filtered waste vegetable oil. It is powered by solely by gravity.

Note: This is a do-it-yourself project. Vegcar.net doesn’t sell any products at this time, nor do we have plans to do so in the future.

On the CNN website today there is an interesting story on an algae farm in Texas. There is also a video version of the story.

Algae are among the fastest growing plants in the world, and about 50
percent of their weight is oil. That lipid oil can be used to make biodiesel for cars, trucks, and airplanes.[...]

But instead of ponds, Valcent uses a closed, vertical system,growing the algae in long rows of moving plastic bags. The patented system is called Vertigro, a joint venture with Canadian alternative energy company Global Green Solutions. The companies have invested about $5 million in the Texas facility.

“A pond has a limited amount of surface area for solar absorption,” said Kertz.

“By going vertical, you can get a lot more surface area to expose cells to the sunlight. It keeps the algae hanging in the sunlight just long enough to pick up the solar energy they need to produce, to go through photosynthesis,” he said.

Kertz said he can produce about 100,000 gallons of algae oil a year per acre, compared to about 30 gallons per acre from corn; 50 gallons from soybeans.

As I learn more about Algae, I become more and more convinced that it could be a significant part of the solution to our energy problems. I do not believe that any one solution is going to be a panacea. Rather, it will be a combination of renewable, progressively cleaner sources over time.

Diesel 101 is a site with some excellent information. Especially useful is a description of the difference between direct and indirect injection diesel engines.

At Earth Day I saw my first veggie oil diesel conversion. My friends, Mark and Mia, had their VW Passat converted in Sant Cruz. I honestly didn’t believe that it was possible until I saw it with my own eyes. I knew then and there that I would go the SVO route.

The research began the next day.