this makes me VERY happy!!
Vegetable Oil Jetta
One lesser-known movement in green car technology is converting diesels to run on SVO, or Straight Vegetable Oil. Unlike biodiesel, which is produced by chemically modifying vegetable oil so that it can be used in a diesel vehicle with no modifications, SVO requires a second fuel system for the vegetable oil in addition to the standard diesel fuel system. Also, one doesn’t operate and fill up an SVO vehicle like a normal petrol or diesel car. It sounds like a lot of work, so why are more and more people kicking up the veggie quotient of their diesels’ diet? We decided to look into it.
No automaker offers an SVO-powered vehicle in its line-up, so tapping a press fleet for a quick evaluation was out of the question. Fortunately we stumbled upon Chuck and Tom Norton, a pair of sibs who run Turtle Plastics, an eco-friendly plastics business in Lorain, OH. The Norton boys recently had a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta TDi converted to run on SVO. Though Tom’s the primary driver, Chuck was happy to hand over the keys to their “Vega Jet” for a spin last week and helped us understand what it’s like to own and operate a vehicle that eats out of a dumpster. Let us explain…
Vegetable oil can be found in abundance throughout our daily lives. It’s the can of canola or pint of peanut oil in the back of your kitchen cabinet. It’s also the vat of boiling grease in which fries are drowned at your local family restaurant. People who own SVO vehicles often get their fuel for free from restaurants, literally taking it right from the grease dumpster out back. This gives SVOs their reputation as dumpster divers, but it also means an SVO vehicle can potentially pay for its $2,000-$3,000 conversion in less than a year thanks to free fuel. Owners shouldn’t count on free grease as a given, but America’s appetite for fried foods knows no bounds so the supply seems virtually limitless.
more at::
http://www.autoblog.com/2006/04/04/in-the-autoblog-driveway-2003-vw-jetta-svo-straight-vegetable/
One lesser-known movement in green car technology is converting diesels to run on SVO, or Straight Vegetable Oil. Unlike biodiesel, which is produced by chemically modifying vegetable oil so that it can be used in a diesel vehicle with no modifications, SVO requires a second fuel system for the vegetable oil in addition to the standard diesel fuel system. Also, one doesn’t operate and fill up an SVO vehicle like a normal petrol or diesel car. It sounds like a lot of work, so why are more and more people kicking up the veggie quotient of their diesels’ diet? We decided to look into it.
No automaker offers an SVO-powered vehicle in its line-up, so tapping a press fleet for a quick evaluation was out of the question. Fortunately we stumbled upon Chuck and Tom Norton, a pair of sibs who run Turtle Plastics, an eco-friendly plastics business in Lorain, OH. The Norton boys recently had a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta TDi converted to run on SVO. Though Tom’s the primary driver, Chuck was happy to hand over the keys to their “Vega Jet” for a spin last week and helped us understand what it’s like to own and operate a vehicle that eats out of a dumpster. Let us explain…
Vegetable oil can be found in abundance throughout our daily lives. It’s the can of canola or pint of peanut oil in the back of your kitchen cabinet. It’s also the vat of boiling grease in which fries are drowned at your local family restaurant. People who own SVO vehicles often get their fuel for free from restaurants, literally taking it right from the grease dumpster out back. This gives SVOs their reputation as dumpster divers, but it also means an SVO vehicle can potentially pay for its $2,000-$3,000 conversion in less than a year thanks to free fuel. Owners shouldn’t count on free grease as a given, but America’s appetite for fried foods knows no bounds so the supply seems virtually limitless.
more at::
http://www.autoblog.com/2006/04/04/in-the-autoblog-driveway-2003-vw-jetta-svo-straight-vegetable/