Submitted:
Tuesday 27 January, 2009.
FREEGANISM AND AUTOMOBILES: Running your vehicle on Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO)
BACKGROUND
For those who don't know, Rudolf Diesel (the inventor of the diesel engine), originally intended for his engine to run on peanut oil or any other vegetable oil. This was to assist developing countries in harvesting their crops without reliance on importing petrochemical fuel. He wanted this engine to be used to benefit everyone. Time passed and the fossil fuel companies greedily trampled over this initiative, ensuring this engine needed to be dependant on mineral diesel instead. Soon all memory of Diesel's original intent was forgotten by the general public. This was another illustration of greed destroying a good idea.
I have been rather positively influenced by the freegan movement, in particular about the message of living a sustainable lifestyle. My wife and child live in a 19-year-old motorhome, as it is best suited to our way of life. We were feeling bad because it was running on diesel and, of course, we were contributing to the pollution all around us. We then discovered that there was another more positive way to move forward. We learned that we could run our vehicle on vegetable oil, making our vehicle greener than the latest vehicles on the market, which ran on mineral oil. After more research we found that we could contribute significantly to lowering emissions and use up what had been thrown away, i.e. by running on used vegetable oil.
'FREEGAN' MOTORING OPTIONS
I know that a lot of freegans choose not to use cars, but for us that do, the challenge to be more considerate comes to the fore. You may be asking, how can I convert my diesel vehicle to run on vegetable oil; can I do it myself; or can I just run my vehicle on straight oil? I had read about people just pouring in the oil but, over time, had their injector pumps get clogged up and not work anymore, and in more serious cases their engines had incurred damage. We wanted to be careful and to not cause damage and wastage by having to rebuild an engine and injector pump on our vehicle, so we thought about doing it ourselves. However, we were not that confident about doing it ourselves and discovered on the internet a company in the U.K, amongst others (Regenetec) that do conversions to diesel vehicles (using what they term the 'Smartveg' system). Most systems employed are a two tank variety, where the vehicle first starts up on diesel and, when the engine is warm enough, it automatically switches over to the other tank which is full of vegetable oil. For the more adventurous and mechanically inclined, you can install the system yourself. In our case it was a rather costly outlay (more than 1,200 pounds), but we felt that it was worth the initial expense for the more long-term environmental and financial benefits (i.e. greener and cheaper fuel).
The simpler option requires an initial expense of about half that of a two tank system, and can be done by yourself in about a day if you have some basic electrical knowledge. It requires adding electric heating elements wired directly from your battery. These are wrapped around the fuel injector pipes to pre-heat the fuel. This one tank system cannot use 100% veg oil. Waste vegetable oil (WVO) can be mixed with diesel to a maximum of 70% WVO. This fuel mix can then be poured into your usual fuel tank, provided you have installed the heating elements on the injectors.
Marcus at www.vegiecars.com runs his own car on WVO and provides do-it-yourself kits with all parts and advice. This includes filtering equipment.
Bear in mind that whatever you initially spend in the beginning should be saved over time because you will no longer need to buy anywhere near as much diesel as before.
COLLECTING AND FILTERING WVO
We discovered that we could collect used vegetable oil from restaurants, fish and chip shops for a fraction of the cost of diesel. This oil was to be discarded or, in some cases, collected by people who make bio diesel. Bio diesel is only 40 percent less polluting than diesel, but users of bio diesel do not need to spend a penny in adapting their vehicles for use. Filtered vegetable oil, on the other hand, is much greener than bio diesel, but it entails a costly outlay to convert diesel powered vehicles to run off it.
Through research, we found that we could construct a basic filtration system (using sewn-up, denim trouser legs inside a 5 micron filter) and that we could pour the used vegetable oil directly into this home-made system and the filtered oil would be sufficiently clean enough to pour straight into the fuel tank.
Naturally collecting and filtering waste oil can be the most messy and time consuming part of the process, but also the most rewarding, in that you know that you are conserving a valuable resource by doing so. You should allow about 2 hours of your time to collect and filter one tank of waste oil.
Because vegetable oil can be up to 17 times more viscous than ordinary mineral diesel if put in (cold) into a diesel engine, it will eventually lead to your vehicle breaking down. The injector pump would become strained and eventually break, and because the fuel wouldn't atomise properly, a residue would, over time, line the cylinder walls inside your engine, thus making the motor harder to start. In the end, this would lead to engine failure and costly repairs. The solution is to ensure that the engine and all relevant components are hot enough, and that the fuel is heated so that it reaches the appropriate temperature, thus making it the same viscosity as mineral diesel.
There are a number of companies that do conversions, which we found on the internet when we googled vegetable oil conversions in the U.K. These include companies like Elsbett technologies from Germany, Dieselveg from the U.K, and Smartveg from the U.K. There are other companies that offer kits for do-it-yourself conversions and articles that discuss the issues surrounding the whole topic.
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
As a freegan it is not ethical to use NEW oil which can be used to feed people. And the use of bio fuels in rich countries is creating competition with food crops. This will make the price of basic staples like corn rise as the demand outstrips supply and this harms poor people. Bio diesel from the pump is, therefore, not as good as it sounds.
We have thought about this dilemma and did not want to contribute to this. So, we decided not to buy bio diesel or unused vegetable oil from the shops for use in our vehicle. If we did not find any, then we simply would not drive. We found that many fast food outlets and restaurants were more than willing to give us their used vegetable oil, which they were throwing out. We saw this as a solution to what the food industry regarded as waste.
Using WASTE vegetable oil as fuel is a partial answer to this problem. Firstly, it is carbon neutral because the oil was created by plants which take CO2 out of the atmosphere, and burning it merely returns what was removed. But it is not possible for all vehicles to run on used vegetable oil, as there is not enough used vegetable oil to power all the diesel vehicles on the road. Obviously in the long-term it would be helpful for people to stop being so dependent on private vehicles and, instead, to use public transport, cycling and walking etc.. Short-term steps are to share vehicles with others, so that one driver per car is a thing of the past, and to try to plan more carefully so that, wherever possible, we do not use vehicles unnecessarily.
Interestingly, it has been estimated that around 20 million vehicles in the U.S could run on used vegetable oil.
CONCLUSION
Anyway, in conclusion, we are happier for changing to veg motoring. Still, there is much to improve. Hopefully better ideas for recycling oil will continue to be designed by creative individuals, to help diminish the current stranglehold petro giants hold on the market-place.