Yesterday I filled up my Chevy S10 Pickup with gasoline. It was $69! One friend told me her vehicle is $80 to fill up. I have been into energy conservation for many years, motivated mainly by the desire to minimize my impact on the environment. Now, with the current high energy prices there is a new motivation to save money.

I feel bad for all of the people who are struggling to make their house payments and keep food on the table. High fuel costs are only compounding the problem.

I do hope that more municipalities will invest in good public transportation. I also hope that the momentum in the development of alternative fuels will continue to build. Businesses and individuals now have the financial incentive to buy smaller vehicles, press congress for higher CAFE standards and most importantly, conserve.

This article in today’s New York Times talks about how the high fuel prices are causing people to carpool and using public transportation. High fuel prices are painful for many people but in the long run they will be seen as a catalyst for finally getting our country on track with sane, smart energy policies.

I was thinking yesterday. I realized that in all of the information I have seen on the environmental benefits of running a car on vegetable oil, no one includes the added benefit of reducing the number of petro-diesel powered vehicles on the road by one.

I have posted previously on the benefits of wvo, trying to consider the whole picture – from the oil well (for petroleum) and the soybean or rapeseed plant (for veg oil) to the exhaust pipe.

Here is a synopsis of the carbon cycle, in an intentionally simple example:

The process of growing plants removes carbon from the air. Some of that carbon goes back into the air when it is burned in a vegcar. This cycle reduces the amount of airborne carbon. Petroleum takes 100% of the carbon out of the ground where it is sequestered. Then, when it is burned in a diesel or gasoline powered vehicle, a great deal of that carbon is released into the air. This increases the amount of airborne carbon.

The net effect is that vegetable oil has a much smaller impact (even a net reduction) on airborne carbon than diesel or gasoline. The benefit is even greater when you consider that the vegetable oil has already been used once to make onion rings or french fries.

There is however one more benefit that I have never heard mentioned. The diesel vehicle that was converted removes one petro-diesel powered vehicle from the road. So, in addition to the fact that the “new” vehicle burns cleaner (total cycle) than a gasoline or diesel powered vehicle, one less vehicle is out there burning petro-diesel.

Have you seen this mentioned? Am I double counting? I would appreciate your comments.

I get emails from time to time from people asking where they can buy filtered wvo for their vegcar. Today we got our second delivery from a company out of San Luis Obispo, CA called Sphere Energy. The owner, 23 year old Ian Hoover, is a very bright mechanical engineer who is devoted to alternative fuels an wvo in particular. I have a short video interview I made today that I will post to the blog soon.

He separates the oil after heating and filtering it. The “sludge” is picked up by another renderer. The creamy stuff is sold to a biodiesel plant and the “amber” is sold to vegcar drivers like me. We purchased three 330 gallon “totes” filled with 5 micron filtered wvo for $1.75/gallon (delivered 200 miles!).

I recommend Ian highly. I have already run 165 gallons of his oil through my car (a previous test order). The oil performed perfectly, even through the 20 degree winter weather.

I gave Fox Rent-a-Car another chance. This went better than last time but I still can’t recommend this company. See my previous posts here and here.

At San Diego Airport, there is no main car rental depot. The rental agencies are spread out in the community around the airport. So, you must take the shuttle bus for your rental company.

• Problem #1: While waiting for the Fox shuttle, it seemed as if 5 Hertz and Avis shuttles passed by, along with 3 each for Dollar, Budget, National and even one called Advantage.

When I got to the agency, I told the agent about my prior experience with their company in San Jose. Then, he left the room twice to speak to his boss and I overheard him speaking in hushed tones over the walkie-talkie to a co-worker. I gleaned from the whispers that they didn’t have a Honda Civic Hybrid for me, the car I reserved. He quickly arranged an “upgrade” to a Prius. I was okay with that.

The car was great. I drove about 100 miles, mostly freeway. I loved watching the display of my fuel efficiency as I drove. I averaged a slightly disappointing 43.3 mpg. I was happy however about how little I was polluting the air.

Dropping the car off was a bit time consuming as well. The other major rental agencies do the check-out process at the car with a hand-held computer. At Fox, you have to go inside and wait in line to check-out.

Here are my overall ratings for Fox Rent-a-Car:

• San Jose:
  • Don’t count on them having the car you reserved.
  • I have been assured by the franchise owner/manager that in the future, they will actually help you find another car (at a comparable price) if they are unable to provide you with one.

• San Diego:
  • Don’t count on them having the car you reserved.
  • Definitely call them from the baggage claim area to confirm that a shuttle is on its way.
  • Make sure you let them know if you are at the commuter air terminal.
  • Leave extra time for pickup and drop-off.

ABC News reports that gasoline prices in San Francisco topped $4.00 per gallon this week.

The article notes that,

Gas prices often shoot up in the spring, as refineries make the switch to summer-blend gasolines, creating glitches in supply. But the standoff with Iran has inflicted a double whammy on prices.

This is great news! Let’s hope for $5 per gallon by the end of the year.

On Monday morning, President Bush called on all Americans to conserve gasoline by driving less. By Tuesday morning, he had come up with some specific advice for his White House staff:

During a trip to Texas and Louisiana, some cars were dropped from the presidential motorcade.

Of course the instructions to his staff also include pushing hard for expanded drilling in the Arctic, relaxed environmental laws and for more nuclear power.

From the NY Times:

Meanwhile, will Vice President Dick Cheney turn down the air-conditioning in his office? In 2001, Mr. Cheney said that “conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it cannot be the basis of a sound energy policy.”

On Tuesday, Mr. Cheney’s spokesman, Steve Schmidt, said “the vice president wholeheartedly supports administration policies,” and he “will certainly do his part.”

Oh, he’ll do his part alright.

Do I hear 70?