Fill 'er up with olive oil instead of diesel

Financial Post (Canada) - May 10, 2002

Ontario. - For the past year and a half, Jamie Delaney has been powering his 1986 Volkswagen Jetta with slop.

"Listen, I could boil up a pig in a pot and create a gallon of fuel for this thing," says Mr. Delaney, president of Global Energies, which sells solar panels. "You just have to know how to do it."

As his Jetta runs in the driveway, it gives off the distinct odour of french fries. "See, what did I tell you," he says, leaning down to get a good whiff of the tailpipe. "You aren't going to choke on this." The car smells a bit like a greasy spoon restaurant because its diesel engine runs on vegetable oil. Olive oil to be exact.

For three years, Mr. Delaney has been tinkering with what is sometimes called biodiesel -- a fuel made from vegetable oils instead of petroleum. He admits the idea sounds a bit insane, but it works.

"I got the idea about four years ago after I heard about farmers using 100% vegetable oil to power their tractors. At the time, my focus was on finding ways to become self-sufficient and this seemed very promising," he says. After several false starts, Mr. Delaney learned the chemistry behind turning cooking oil and globs of kitchen grease into fuel for his car. Using lye, methanol and other chemicals, he removes the triglyceride from the oil to produce a substance similar to diesel fuel. The result is a very thin golden oil.

Like any other organic material, vegetable oil makes good fuel, says Ian Brindle, a Brock University chemistry professor. The idea of using biodiesel is not new. "It has been around for a long time and would certainly be of interest to those looking for alternatives to non-renewable resources."

Unlike petroleum, which is formed from the remains of prehistoric plants and animals, the plants used for biodiesel can be replanted. What's more, says Mr. Delaney, biodiesel burns much cleaner than traditional diesel. "That cuts down on the gases causing global warming."

The amount of carbon dioxide and sulphur emissions from biodiesel is drastically less than that of traditional diesel.

Unlike regular diesel, plant oil does not contain much sulphur to burn off, Mr. Brindle says. In terms of carbon dioxide, it is not burning cleaner, but it is better for the environment than what can be bought at the pumps. "It is burning carbon dioxide like anything else. But you have to ask where is that carbon dioxide coming from? The plant consumed that carbon dioxide from the atmosphere."

Mr. Delaney is pleased with his car's performance using biodiesel. The only modification he made was to add a small $5 pre-filter to his engine's main filter.

He believes global warming and air pollution will eventually force governments to put restrictions on traditional fuels, making biodiesel more attractive.

sent in by Pete Frost