Inching along the Tacoma Narrows the other day, I spotted a Ford F-350 sporting a stylistically oozing decal indicating that the diesel truck was "Powered by Veggie Oil." Although I've been as aware as the next person about the recent biofuel craze, it just so happened that I recently read a blurb in Wired (my source of all pop tech) that detailed the process required to convert a diesel vehicle into a vegetable oil powered green machine.
Of course, "green machine" may be a bit of a misnomer here - there's nothing about burning vegetable oil that is pollution- or emission-free. It won't give you better gas mileage in many cases, either. The basic premise is the reduction of dependency on the oil industry, and of course it couldn't hurt that it's ok to use oil that you've already deep-fried your dinner in (the best type of recycling is reuse, after all.)
Interestingly enough, pretty much any diesel vehicle can be converted at home for between $500 and $1000, something I definitely didn't know. With the Jetta - one of the more popular veggie converts - I could easily see the appeal, but after passing the truck on the freeway in stop-and-go traffic, I began wondering just how much bacon grease you would have to save up before it really became worth it for something as monolithic as an F-350.
Since I will probably never own a truck that big, I may never know.
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