How to Convert Your Car to Run on Vegetable Oil

With the cost of gas consistently rising, more people are looking into converting their car to run on vegetable oils. While we all may dream about a world where we never have to pay for gas again, only individuals with diesel cars are able to convert their car to run on vegetable oil. However, what the gas industry doesn’t want you to know is that converting to vegetable oil is easy! Almost any diesel engine can be converted to run on vegetable oil as long as it is not an older model that contains rubber seals in the fuel system. Only a few older models contain these seals. The seals will deteriorate over time if it runs on vegetable oil.

The conversion process is easy because diesel was originally designed to run on vegetable oils. Rudolf Diesel designed an engine to run on corn oil around a hundred years ago. He was looking for a more efficient way to run his farm equipment because gas had reached a high of $0.05 a gallon!

To convert your car, there are two options. You may either purchase a conversion kit ($500-$1,500+) and install it yourself, or you may hire a specialized mechanic to do the conversion for you ($3,000+). Most mechanics will tell you that if you are not very proficient with the mechanical system of your car, don’t take the chance of botching up the job and instead have a professional do it for you. You will need to install a separate fuel tank and gauge.

Once your car is set up, you will have to find the vegetable oil. You will not want to purchase it from a supermarket because that would end up costing more than gasoline. Instead, almost all restaurants and bars likely pay a fee to have their used vegetable oil taken away. Talk to the managers of these establishments and offer to take their oil away for free. Make sure it is non-hydrogenated oil. The oil will have to be collected and heated in a barrel before it can be pumped into a car.

Although the cost-savings of using vegetable oil may take years to breakeven from the initial start-up costs, there are several environmental advantages of using veggie oil as fuel. Vegetable-based fuels burn cleaner and are non-toxic. Unlike oil, vegetable oils are not fossil fuels and can therefore be produced using agricultural methods.

However, can enough vegetable oil be produced to fuel an entire nation? What do you think?

To Burn or Not to Burn: Wood Burning Heaters

Generally, people think of burning wood as the villain of the renewable energy family. Although it is a renewable resource, it causes environmentalists to shake their heads. Mostly they worry that burning wood means cutting down precious trees for fuel and smoke pollution. Not to mention that wood stoves are not as technologically sexy as glittering solar panels and whirling wind turbines.

As much as some hate the burning of wood as an energy source, wood is a conditionally renewable fuel, period. And as all environmentalists and alternative energy aficionados know, there aren’t too many renewable options available–especially ones that aide in large amounts for the cold weather months. For some, relying on wood burning fuel as a source for heat is a must for survival.

There are many of us that would rather use wood burning heaters rather than electrical or gas heaters. For those select few, do your part for sustainability by purchasing wood that comes from a sustainable source. Firewood should be cut, split and stacked in an open area in early spring to be ready to burn in the fall. Very hard woods like oak may take longer to dry–especially in damp maritime climates. When it comes to burning other elements besides wood–steer clear. Burning waste paper and trash produces elevated emissions of toxic gasses.  Burn clean, dry, uncoated, untreated wood and just enough newspaper to light the fires.

Another tip for burning wood users:  the not so beautiful wood piles that include wood from less desirable species tend to be more sustainable than perfect piles of maple or oak with regular pieces in the classic wedge shape. This is because straight lengths of these high value, slow growing species should be used for furniture, not wood heating. Ugly wood piles are created from a milieu of woods.

The bottom line on the argument of whether or not to burn wood is the cold hard facts. Wood is considered to be a renewable fuel and almost carbon dioxide neutral with the help of trees absorbing CO2. When trees mature and fall in the forest and decompose there, the same amount of CO2 is emitted as would be released if they were burned. When we heat our houses by burning wood, we are flowing along with the natural carbon cycle in which CO2 flows from the atmosphere to the forest and back.

Solar Chargers: The Way of the Future

A great way to stay green while still using the worlds amazing technology is by using solar chargers. If you have priced one out before you may know that they are pricey items and may not be at the top of your shopping list every month because of this. If this is something that interests you but you have money issues, check out a homemade solar charger recipe.

Instructables has step-by-step instructions on how to make your very own solar charger. There is also ways of extending your battery life that you can combine with solar charging to get the most of this experience.  There are other ways to stay green and still charge your phone. Wind-powered, kinetic fuel cell and other chargers are great alternatives if you are looking outside the solar field.

If you are one of those people that are ready to move into the solar field, check out the number of options from these amazing companies.

SolarGorilla From PowerTraveller

Power: 10 Watts

Where: EarthTech Products

How Much: $250

Solio Charger From Solio

Power: 0.6 Watts

Where: Solio

How Much: $50

SolarRoll 4.5 From Brunton

Power: 4.5 to 14 Watts depending on the size of the roll

Where: Brunton

How Much: 4.5 Watt roll (all you’ll need for hand-held devices) is $295

Solaris 26 From Brunton

Power: 26 Watts

Where: Brunton

How Much: $620

Voltaic Backpack From Voltaic Systems

Power: 4 Watts

Where: Voltaic Systems

How much: $250

I’m on a Boat…A Solar Boat

You can get a tan, brew tea and power your boat by being on board Raphaël Domjan’s latest creation. The world’s largest solar boat was revealed this past Thursday, created at the Knierim Yacht Club in Kiel in northern Germany; costing $24.4 million to produce. The 31-meter-long and 15-meter-wide craft named PlanetSolar will hit waters next month and start sea trials between June and September. This solar beast is expected to be able to capture 103.4 kW of solar energy to drive its engine which evidently only needs 20kW, to achieve an average speed of eight knots (15kph or 9mph).

The PlanetSolar team is not intending on replacing conventional watercrafts, however they did note that it was boats that allowed the first great explorations of our world. With the first boat dating back more than 10,000 years it is easy to forget how clean such transportation can be. “Today,” the PlanetSolar team suggests, “the boat is the most used means of transport of goods. It represents single-handedly almost 1.4 billions of tons of carbon dioxide (in 2008), that is 6% of the total carbon dioxide emissions and twice more than the air transport.”

To learn more about the boat that will hopefully set standards for future development, click here.

Need an Incentive to Go Solar?

Going green has been a trending topic for years now, and our hopes is it won’t be a trend but a way of life. One state has implemented a bill that is allowing us to move away from coal and focus more on the use of alternative energy.

In the state of California, a bill was implemented where a home owner using solar panels could sell their excess energy back to the utilities company. When the law was first issued, a cap of 2.5 percent of the total utilities energy was allowed to be purchased from homeowners, however recently they increased the cap to 5 percent.

Not only is this a major benefit for our beautiful planet and hopefully a lead other states will follow, but it is a plus for the homeowners who’s monthly utilities bills’ may go from $100 to as little as a dollar a month. Also, this action will create green job growth within the state of California, helping with their current state. Bill author Assembly member Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) said, “California leads the nation in solar energy, accounting for more than 65 percent of the all the solar installed in the U.S. Net metering has been absolutely fundamental to that success. The passage of this bill means continued green job growth, further energy bill savings, progress in the fight against climate change, and a brighter future for California.”

To learn more about this bill, check out the press release.