Click on the image for high-res shots of this diesel 1967 Mercury Cougar

Much of the vegetable oil and biodiesel movement centers around the classic Mercedes-Benz inline six cylinder engine, but fine examples of the genre are getting tougher to find. As is always the case with older machines, time and driving in general take their toll on the bodies and chassis of our favorite classics. But, these old Mercedes lumps can be rebuilt to fine running order. Wondering what to do with that good-running or rebuilt turbodiesel engine? How about dropping it into the engine bay of some classic Detroit iron? Many of these older American vehicles were built with engine-bays capable of accepting everything from a straight-six to a huge big block V8 engine. If that sounds like too much trouble, perhaps you should take a look at an example that's already been converted. Right now on Craigslist in L.A. is a cherry 1967 Mercury Cougar with a Mercedes OM617 cast iron turbodiesel engine from a Mercedes-Benz 300SD. Mated to a four-speed manual tranny, we'd imagine that many trouble-free miles of burbling diesel goodness are in store for this particular gem. Thanks for the tip, Geeky1!


[Source: Craigslist]

Gavin Shappiro sent us a very well edited video of a green hobby: driving a 2005 Volkswagen Golf TDI with vegetable oil. As most of our readers know, converting a diesel car to run on vegetable oil is not a difficult thing to do, and virtually any diesel car can run with it. Gavin's friend Chase Emmons, who owns the Golf TDI, obtains the oil for free from restaurants, which would usually have to pay to get their waste oil removed. The video also shows the important switch that is used to switch from diesel to vegetable oil, since these cars need to be started with regular diesel to warm the veggie oil.

UPDATE: actually, the owner of this car is Chase Emmons, and Shappiro created the video with him. Minor edits made to the story to reflect this.

Find the video after the jump.

California's NorthStar Moving Corporation has just converted all of its trucks to run on biodiesel fuel. All of the fuel used by the moving and storage company will now be veggie-based. Additionally, their fleet of vehicles has also been fitted with battery-powered rear lift gates as opposed to hydraulic, meaning that the engine does not need to idle for extended periods.

NorthStar reportedly has tried greening other aspects of their operation. All of their boxes and stationery are made from recycled material and are reused when possible. The company claims that skylights and windows are used for natural lighting when possible and their warehouses are well-insulated. We applaud these efforts, of course, especially the use of biodiesel. With diesel prices as high as they are, we wonder what impact biodiesel may have on the market, considering that cost is often a driving factor when it comes to our energy needs.

One of the 2007 Green Grand Prix entries.

The fact that the Green Grand Prix makes an appearance on our list should not come as a shocker. Where else are you gonna see pod-racers (like in the picture above) racing alongside vehicles running on biodiesel, electrons, LP, CNG, hybrids, flex-fuel vehicles, hydrogen fuel cell cars, a wood-powered SUV and a vegetable oil-powered car? Nowhere, as far as we know, which means we wish we could be in upstate New York on May 3rd.

Finally, Number 1.

One of the 2007 Green Grand Prix entries.

Here's a race we'd like to watch. The fourth annual Green Grand Prix is coming to Watkins Glen in upstate New York in a week and a half (May 3rd). While there are some podracer-like entries (e.g., the photo above), the bulk of the vehicles are standard-looking but powered by an alternative fuel source: we're talking biodiesel, pure EVs, LP, CNG, hybrids, flex-fuel vehicles, hydrogen fuel cell cars, a wood-powered SUV and a vegetable oil-powered car. The Green Grand Prix is also the only official SCCA Time-Speed-Distance Road Rally for alternate fueled vehicles and hybrids in the United States.

The road rally takes place over 60 miles (at legal highway speeds) and was created by Bob Gillespie. A fan of hybrids, Gillespie said in a statement he just wanted to "give people a first hand look at alternative personal transportation. This year's event will be even bigger than the last, as more and more people realize the multiple benefits of green power." The race portion will take place at the Racing Research Center. There will also be a presentation from the Cornell University X-Prize Team. Learn more about the Green Grand Prix here and read the release after the jump.

The Association of Municipalities and Counties of Catalonia, Spain (ACM), has announced an agreement with Recicloil, a company that recycles used vegetable oil into biodiesel. The agreement states that the company will provide one liter of free biodiesel to citizens for each 20 liters of used oil people bring in. Recicloil will also provide a free 2,000-liter biodiesel pump (as well stickers) which will be installed for city fleets using this biodiesel.

While this is not the first of such networks, as we explained in another post, it's an important partnership. Spaniards tend to throw used oil down the drain, which is not only a waste of an useful resource, but causes lots of problems in water treatment plants. Powering cars seems much smarter.

[Source: Europa Press via Econoticias]

This is weird.

One of the easiest arguments to make against hydrogen fuel cells is that you have one too many energy conversions going on (first, you need energy to make the hydrogen, then you use the hydrogen to make electricity onboard the vehicle). Why not just use the initial energy - usually electricity - to power up a battery and move the car that way? Well, "the battery" and range anxiety are two obvious answers, but still, the idea that we keep refining energy sources until we get to hydrogen is one that not a lot of people are buying.

So, what will they think about turning biodiesel (and vegetable oil) into hydrogen? That's the idea behind Innovatek's latest proposal, according to Biodiesel Magazine. Innovatek's president, chief executive officer and founder Patricia Irving (pictured) said that her company has reduced the size needed for making hydrogen through steam reforming to "something more portable."

So, basically, the idea is that we make biodiesel (or vegetable oil), transport that over long distances (instead of hydrogen, which is pretty hard to transport) and put it into a small steam reformer that can then make hydrogen to make electricity in a fuel cell.

Whew.

[Source: Biodiesel Magazine]

AutoblogGreen reader Mike C wrote a comment recently about the waste-oil-to-fuel work that's going on at his school, Keene State College. I read that and thought this story deserved mention here on the main page. Whenever students are doing something clever and green, I like to share their stories (e.g., here and here).

The student's project is a pretty standard one that collects waste grease from local establishments and then recycles it into biodiesel that Keene city and KSC vehicles burn. Last week, the KSC student team was chosen as a finalist in the EPA's People, Prosperity, and The Planet award competition. As a finalist, the students will be headed to DC to try and win funding (up to $75,000) to expand the program.

[Source: Keene Feed]

If you are reading our site, you are probably already familiar with the fact that any diesel vehicle can run on biodiesel. As a matter of fact, most any can diesel vehicle can even run on used vegetable oil with just a few modifications. There are some issues with vegetable oil which must first be addressed, one of which is keeping the fuel warm. What many conversion vehicles do to remedy this situation is to heat the vegetable oil and starting the vehicle with regular diesel fuel. A few other modifications are generally made to the fuel system to filter the veggie oil before it gets to the combustion chambers. How would you go about performing these operations? Check out this Instructable for directions on how a conversion was done on an older school bus. A few drums were strapped under the bus with the middle one being preheated before sending fuel to the engine. Check out the mad-max style photo above for a glimpse into this conversion.

Don't have a veggie oil conversion but still want to use heat from your engine for something useful? How about for cooking... click here.

[Source: Instructables]

Seriously: what do you do with your leftover cooking oil? Most people just pour it down the drain (not pointing any fingers, here). This is quite bad for a couple of reasons: first because it can affect waste water treatment plants and second because a potential fuel is lost. We have written a lot about how used oils can be made into car fuel before; today we have three more examples about global initiatives to raise awareness about recycling used oil.

Let's go first to Murcia, Spain. It's a region where water is scarce and the prospects of using recycled water seems very attractive. But not when it's got lots of fat in it. Therefore, the concession in charge of waste management has delivered free funnels to all households in the city of Molina de Segura which people can use with empty soda bottles. Once full, the bottles can be brought at any local grocery shop or school to be recycled.

Further north, in Scotland, in Kilmarock County, there's a project to use recycled oil for local bus transportation. The company exchanges used oil for bus tickets. A grease container has been delivered for free to all houses the bus lines serve.

Finally, Brazil is going large and has announced a network of small local biodiesel plants which would use waste oil from local restaurants and households. This network will be backed up financially by the Brazilian Society for Science Progress (SBPC). Brazil announced this project not only as something that will allow the country to produce enough biodiesel for its B2 introduction plans, but also because it is a positive social effect (involving citizens in recycling and creating local jobs). The plan is expected to be implemented next April but an experimental plant is already working in Indaiatuba (São Paulo). Biodiesel obtained with this procedure costs 40 cents per liter, compared to 90 cents for "all-new" biodiesel.

[Source: Cadena Ser, Agroinformación, Econoticias]

Shell Oil formed a joint venture with HR Biopetroleum called Cellana and they plan to produce biofuels from marine algae. Shell, which owns a majority stake in the venture, will start production of a demonstration facility on the Kona coast of Hawai'i Island immediately. The production volume for the facility, which is on a site leased from the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA), will be small but the main goal is to research which natural microalgae species produce the highest yields biofuels. Scientists from Hawai'i, Mississippi and Canada are a part of the project that will also explore the potential of algae to capture CO₂ from power plants. Graeme Sweeney, Shell Executive Vice President Future Fuels and CO₂, says:

Algae have great potential as a sustainable feedstock for production of diesel-type fuels with a very small CO₂ footprint. ... This demonstration will be an important test of the technology and, critically, of commercial viability.

Sweeney denies this is all a publicity stunt but they are smart to invest in biofuels from marine algae. The economic viability of the process has to be proven but algae is the most promising non-food source of biofuels, providing 15 times the yield of rape seed, and using the ocean would mean farmland that could grow food would not be a part of the biofuel equation. It's really too bad Shell is a giant oil company. I wonder if anyone will ever take news like this from oil companies seriously?

Related:

• Grow car fuel in the ocean? A very good idea
• Who's behind a better lithium-ion hybrid/EV battery? Why, it's Exxon Mobil
• Boeing likes algae as a source for new biofuels
• Solix and Colorado State University team to commercialize algae to biodiesel process
• AlgaeLink introduces 2nd generation algae bioreactors

[Source: Guardian]

Mythbusters, a popular TV show on the Discovery Channel, tried to bust the myth that there are devices out there that can dramatically improve your fuel economy. I think Mythbusters made a lot of mistakes in the episode with claims about hydrogen, used vegetable oil and EPA testing. I also think they did bad experiments and should have done more research.

Lets start with hydrogen: As you can see in the above video, after making a car turn over by hosing hydrogen into the carburetor, Adam proclaims "I guess you could, if you had a lot of hydrogen, run your engine completely without any other modification." The experiment they did is interesting but there is no reason to make the claim that a car can run unmodified on hydrogen. Who would consider the installation of a hydrogen fuel tank on a car un-modified anyway? They could have mentioned hydrogen combustion engines and fact that there is serious research on using hydrogen in gas cars.

Now, about the used vegetable oil. Adam got used vegetable oil from a restaurant, filtered it and ran a diesel car on it. They claim just 10 percent less fuel economy and Adam said "we did not make any modifications to this car. That means anybody who had a diesel car could just pure this stuff into the gas tank and it would run fine." Again, like the hydrogen experiment, interesting but it's not that simple. You can use vegetable oil in a diesel engine and it does work but there is a small industry of people that do conversions to diesel engines to make sure there are no long term damage to your car when running on VegOil. Why not mention them? Also, mileage really depends on the type of oil you use but I doubt a 10 percent reduction in fuel economy is accurate for everyone.

Go below the fold for more mistakes.

[Source: MythBusters]

In many places around the world, roads are financed at least in part by a tax added to the price of fuel. When we head to the pumps, we pay for a little bit of the road we drive out onto as we leave the station. But people who make their own biofuels don't pay these taxes and yet they drive on roads other people pay for. To make sure the load is balanced out a bit, many governments tax biofuels whether they are home-brewed or purchased. To get an idea of how this plays out in Alaska, check out this post over at Arctic Vegwerks.

The system for collecting waste oil or biodiesel taxes ($0.08/gallon state and $0.244/gallon federal) in Alaska starts like this:

The user must submit their Alaska Motor Fuel Tax on a monthly basis. Yeah, the tax office would really prefer it wasn't so often, but it's written into law. Seems like they would lose money processing a whole bunch of $5 checks every month! Some states exempt the first 2500 gallons, and the feds only require quarterly taxes, so lobby your Alaska legislators if you want to improve the law!

Arctic Vegwerks goes on to describe just how to fill out the state paperwork and quotes parts of the law that affect some green drivers up north. Got any good stories of how it affects you where you live?

[Source: Arctic Vegwerks]

Six female college students from schools across the country who call themselves the Veggie Girls decided that high gas prices and carbon emissions were old school. The new thing is finding out "just how far their vegetables can take them" and so the students, from Vassar, Stanford, Scripps, Cuesta, UCSB and Cal Poly, took a two-week trip earlier this year across America in a vehicle running on vegoil. The Veggie Girls got a dozen donors to sponsor the $3,000 conversion of one of the girls' father's truck. The conversion kit came from Plant Drive, a Berkeley-based business. While on the road, the Veggie Girls kept an eye out for Asian restaurants to get their fuel. Actually, their eyes were glued to phone books and GPS units to find these restaurants. Random chance is so 2000. Read more here.

Five of the Veggie Girls (the full roster includes Caitlyn Arigo, Audrey Faber, Rachel Faber, Jenny Morrill, Alyssa Tennant, and Aubrey Wynn) will speak about the trip at Cuesta College tomorrow evening.

[Source: New Times SLO]

The 20th World Solar Challenge took place in Australia in October. One of the more unusual fuel types in the Greenfleet Class of the Darwin to Adelaide race was used by a "Troupy," a lightly modified 1989 Toyota Landcruiser.

According to Pure Energy Systems, the diesel-engined Troupy made the 3,000 kilometer-drive using a fuel called Bios Fuel H2W+, which is 40 percent water and 60 percent waste mineral oil.

Here's how PES describes it:

Bios Fuel claims to have developed a water-based fuel technology that allows hydrogen to be housed safely in water and released on demand for numerous applications. A proprietary catalyst allows water to be suspended in waste oil as an emulsion. The fuel is designed for power generation. It is one of several blends that Bios Fuel has certified to American ASTM standards.

While it is not designed for vehicles, it ran well in the 1989 Toyota Landcruiser Troop Carrier, or "Troupy" as they are affectionately called in the outback. "We thought testing in a harsh environment such as the Australian desert would demonstrate the viability of our fuel beyond doubt, and show that 2nd and 3rd generation waste can be combined with water to provide an energy source", said Bios Fuel founder and CEO Steve Ryan. "Using an old Troupy shows that you don't necessarily have to compromise lifestyle to reduce your effect on the environment".

There is a history of hype surrounding the idea of placing water into a vehicle's fuel tank, but I'll say - for now - that this appears to be legit. NZ Biofuels sent out a press release on the accomplishment and biosfuel.org has a slick PDF on H2W+ (and related fuels). If you've got a critical take on this fuel (or want to sing its praises), please share it with our readers in the comments below. It seems difficult to fake traveling 3,000 km in a media-rich environment like the Panasonic World Solar Challenge, doesn't it?

[Source: Sterling D. Allan / Pure Energy Systems News, h/t to Tim]