Fill 'er up with Krispy Kreme
Biodiesel fuel costs more than gasoline and can smell kind of funny. But recycling kitchen grease beats war in the Mideast, doesn't it?
- - - - - - - - - - - - By Katharine Mieszkowski
March 19, 2003 | Jeffrey Miottel, 36, of San Rafael, Calif., drives a cream-colored, 1984 Mercedes 300TD that inspires hunger pangs.
If you're stuck in traffic behind him, you won't be choking on diesel exhaust -- instead, you might find yourself wondering if you've left an old restaurant takeout bag under the back seat.
Miottel, a contractor and environmentalist, makes his own fuel from used grease recycled from local Marin County restaurants.
"I haven't been to a gas station since last May," he brags.
Fueling up on biodiesel gives his car's emissions the pungent aroma of whichever kitchen the oil came from. "We were using oil from an Indian place one time, and it smelled like cinnamon chai coming out of the tailpipe," says Miottel. "When we use sesame oil from this organic-chip manufacturer, it smells like you're a walking stir-fry." His favorite source to cadge grease from: sushi bars, because tempura grease comes out of the fryer relatively clean, making it easy to work with.
Miottel's Mercedes gets only 25 miles per gallon, but driving it is better for the environment and air quality than using petroleum diesel. Plus, no one ever went to war in the Middle East over French fry grease.
"Biodiesel's a local homegrown fuel that you can make yourself and not have to go fight a war for," Miottel proselytizes. He teaches weekend classes on how to make the fuel.
Could biodiesel be a burn-your-veggies answer to global warming, pollution and energy independence? According to the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, biodiesel produces 78 percent less CO2 than regular diesel. And it mitigates the cancer risks of diesel exhaust by 94 percent, the lab reports. One caveat: Biodiesel does release 5.8 percent more nitrous oxide than petroleum diesel. Full: http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/03/19/biodiesel/index.html?x --- Sent from UnionMail Service [http://mail.union.org.za]