Student saves money on gas, fuels car with vegetable oil
Laura Tetreault
Issue date: 10/5/06 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
10/05/06 - University of Rhode Island sophomore Nick Russell drives an uncommon car: a gold 1985 Mercedes-Benz 300SD. What makes the car even more unusual is that it runs on vegetable oil.
With his new vehicle, Russell only spends about $15 every two weeks on diesel fuel and gets the vegetable oil for free. When he first converted the car, he and his father went to the Two Little Fish restaurant in Westerly and asked if they could use the waste vegetable oil for the car.
"My dad and I explained that we had this car that runs on vegetable oil, and we were looking for a place to get it from," Russell said.
Restaurants have to pay to dispose of their waste vegetable oil, so Two Little Fish was glad to let him use the oil for his car, he said.
Russell added that he goes to the restaurant every month or so to get more fuel.
Russell first got the idea to convert a car to run on vegetable oil from his father.
"My dad first heard about it somewhere," Russell said. "We thought it would be a cool thing to do."
The idea did not become a reality until his father found a Mercedes with a diesel engine for only $500. Since only diesel cars can be converted to run on vegetable oil, Russell decided to go ahead with the idea. He bought a conversion kit for $750 from the Massachusetts-based company Greasecar Vegetable Fuel Systems.
After sitting down with his father to figure out the instructions, Russell used the kit to convert the car.
"I'm by no means a mechanic," Russell said. "It wasn't that hard of a process. You just have to know a little about cars."
Russell's car now runs on two fuels, diesel and vegetable oil. After he starts his car on diesel, Russell then uses an electronic switch to change to vegetable oil. He must switch the car back to diesel before shutting the engine off.
"The free fuel was definitely the most important thing on my mind," Russell said, in regard to other reasons for converting his car. "But it also decreases dependence on oil."
Russell said running the car on vegetable oil is not a difficult process and that most people with diesel cars could do it. "It's just running the car off of one type of fuel as opposed to another," he said.
There are also other kinds of alternative fuels that save money on gas and help protect the environment, he said. Diesel cars can run on bio-diesel, a combination of diesel and vegetable oil, or other gas engines can be converted to run on ethanol.
"I think definitely more people should do this," Russell said. "First, there's all that waste vegetable oil … In terms of the environment, I'm very much for doing whatever I can to protect it … We need [the environment] to survive as a species, so this is pretty important."
With his new vehicle, Russell only spends about $15 every two weeks on diesel fuel and gets the vegetable oil for free. When he first converted the car, he and his father went to the Two Little Fish restaurant in Westerly and asked if they could use the waste vegetable oil for the car.
"My dad and I explained that we had this car that runs on vegetable oil, and we were looking for a place to get it from," Russell said.
Restaurants have to pay to dispose of their waste vegetable oil, so Two Little Fish was glad to let him use the oil for his car, he said.
Russell added that he goes to the restaurant every month or so to get more fuel.
Russell first got the idea to convert a car to run on vegetable oil from his father.
"My dad first heard about it somewhere," Russell said. "We thought it would be a cool thing to do."
The idea did not become a reality until his father found a Mercedes with a diesel engine for only $500. Since only diesel cars can be converted to run on vegetable oil, Russell decided to go ahead with the idea. He bought a conversion kit for $750 from the Massachusetts-based company Greasecar Vegetable Fuel Systems.
After sitting down with his father to figure out the instructions, Russell used the kit to convert the car.
"I'm by no means a mechanic," Russell said. "It wasn't that hard of a process. You just have to know a little about cars."
Russell's car now runs on two fuels, diesel and vegetable oil. After he starts his car on diesel, Russell then uses an electronic switch to change to vegetable oil. He must switch the car back to diesel before shutting the engine off.
"The free fuel was definitely the most important thing on my mind," Russell said, in regard to other reasons for converting his car. "But it also decreases dependence on oil."
Russell said running the car on vegetable oil is not a difficult process and that most people with diesel cars could do it. "It's just running the car off of one type of fuel as opposed to another," he said.
There are also other kinds of alternative fuels that save money on gas and help protect the environment, he said. Diesel cars can run on bio-diesel, a combination of diesel and vegetable oil, or other gas engines can be converted to run on ethanol.
"I think definitely more people should do this," Russell said. "First, there's all that waste vegetable oil … In terms of the environment, I'm very much for doing whatever I can to protect it … We need [the environment] to survive as a species, so this is pretty important."
