Driving with greasel

Mmmmm, greasel.....

Got a diesel? Try driving with greasel
In these days of eye-popping gas prices, Mike Leahy gets fuel for his Volkswagen Beetle at the Barking Dog, a pub in Bethesda, Md. Shane Sellers fuels up at a Chinese restaurant in Frederick, Md. And Ben Tonken heads to a Tex-Mex eatery in Washington.

Welcome to the world of greasel--the shorthand some use for grease and diesel. Leahy and the others are among a tiny but growing band of environmentalists and thrifty consumers who are turning to restaurants for free, used vegetable oil to fuel their diesel-engine cars.

With a little filtration and a car conversion kit, oil that once fried potatoes, egg rolls or tortilla chips is ready for its second act: air pollution fighter.

Sure, saving the world would be nice. But these folks don't really expect to. Most seem to be getting their hands greasy to prove a point: Vegetable oil, according to studies, burns cleaner than diesel fuel. What's more, it can save money.

As for performance, drivers say there's virtually no difference. Wear and tear on the engine is the same, as is acceleration and gas mileage.

When Sellers, 31, bought an $800 conversion kit two years ago, “it was just a decision on having some sort of independence and challenging the use of fossil fuels,” said the adjunct professor of art at Frederick Community College.

I almost made some joke about “Food for Thought”, but decided that it is too oily in the morning for such humor.

Tags: Energy, /Technology