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Brew Your Own Auto Fuel For 41 Cents A Gallon

Iphtashu Fitz writes "Damon Toal-Rossi of Iowa City, Iowa had enough of the high price of gasoline, so it didn't take too much for his friend to talk him into switching to biodiesel, an alternative fuel based on soy or vegetable oil. But after a few months of driving 10 miles to a biodiesel fuel station he decided it was time to start brewing his own. It didn't take him long to find a recipe for biodiesel, and with used cooking oil that he gets for free from a nearby restaurant, he figures he's now getting 44 miles per gallon out of his diesel powered VW Golf and only paying 41 cents a gallon. According to the National Biodiesel Board the number of biodiesel stations in the US rose by 50% last year (to a whopping 200). The president of the American Soybean Association claims biodiesel has almost the same amount of energy as petroleum-based diesel, but cleans an engine's fuel injectors and cuts down on the number of required oil changes. Perhaps these are some of the reasons why diesel powered cars are making a comeback in the US."

17 of 991 comments (clear)

  1. French Fry Smell by Danathar · · Score: 3, Funny

    Just think....

    McDonalds could outfit all of their trucks with used French Fry Oil...and then evertime you saw one pass you'd smell that wonderful French Fry Aroma!

    Seriously......They COULD do this!

    1. Re:French Fry Smell by eggoeater · · Score: 5, Funny

      "Welcome to McDonalds, can I take your order?"
      "Yes, I'd like a Big Mac, large fry, small diet coke, and filler-up with McDiesel."
      "Would you like to Biggie-size that to include an oil change?"

  2. Re:How's it smell? by smackjer · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yeah, but now our freedom fries are going to smell like exhaust!

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  3. Live? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Not all of us live nearby KFC :)"

    What do you mean 'live', buy one of their buckets and pour the gallon grease at the bottom right into your car.

    I love the Colonial.

  4. This just in... by raistphrk · · Score: 3, Funny

    White Castle and Taco Bell to invest in joint biopower enterprise.

  5. fat chicks by millahtime · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yeah, I have a problem. You may have fat chicks chasing down your car.



    I know it's not PC to say that but oh well.

  6. Re:How's it smell? by Russ+Steffen · · Score: 5, Funny

    Great, so then every cop in a 10-mile radius is magically drawn to your car. Even if you're not doing anything wrong it would still be unnerving as hell leading a parade of squad cars all trying to get a contact sugar high from your exhaust.

  7. Re:Great... by 17028 · · Score: 5, Funny

    They recycle vegetable oil?? Right, tell me what restaurants are using recycled oil please. I'm not eating there!

  8. Ha by Gothmolly · · Score: 4, Funny

    The IRS can kiss my greasy ass if they think I'll declare this.

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  9. Re:Clean?! by maxbang · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...and diluted by water

    Would this have anything to do with people like my friends and me throwing massive chunks of ice into the fryers while working at Wendy's in high school? There's nothing quite like watching (and hearing) a deep fryer exploding with gigantic scalding bubbles of grease. However, I'm thinking your water-diluted grease gets the water after it's cooled.

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  10. Re:Like they say about Linux... by IthnkImParanoid · · Score: 4, Funny

    Not only that, the price of my time skyrockets when it comes to handling vast quantities of used cooking grease. I can't imagine what this guy, and his home, smelled like after such an undertaking.

    For my time/money, I'll wade through man pages and dependency checks long before I'll touch a drum of boiled fat.

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  11. Re:How's it smell? by Oliver+Wendell+Jones · · Score: 4, Funny

    I wasn't trying to kill myself, your honor. I started the car and noticed the smell of donuts and figured that the kids had left some in the back seat, so I went looking for them and well, the next thing I remember is the paramedics leaning over me, telling me I should have opened the garage door first...

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  12. That's my retirement fund!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    That's WILLY'S grease!!

  13. Free as in beer or free as in oil by Greyfox · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yep! It's like fish heads. Right now you can find fish heads for free if you ask around to various local groceries. As soon as all those outsourced IT workers realize that for the same price as ramen, they could be eating ramen with fish heads, that market will dry up faster than a dead coyote in death valley.

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  14. Re:Biodiesel - myth? by transient · · Score: 4, Funny
    we used gallons of vegetable oil to wind up with a couple litres of fuel

    How are things going at NASA?

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  15. Re:Availability by discstickers · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'd hope so, otherwise Mr. Thermodynamics might have to have a few strong words with Mr. and Mrs. Biodiesel.

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  16. Re:Great... by Snowmit · · Score: 3, Funny

    If you aren't living near a fast food restaurant, you probably aren't living in North America.

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