Originally published October 15 2005
Idaho man fuels car with used vegetable oil
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
When people think of alternative fuels, vegetable oil is probably not the first thing that comes to mind, but KTVB Idaho reports that Idaho native John Stokes utilized vegetable oil that had been used to fry chicken at his grocery store to power his 1985 Mercedes.
After the vegetable oil is used to fry chicken and potatoes, the waste is converted into an alternative fuel to operate a car.
The same stuff used to fry chicken and potato wedges at Stokes Market in Burley has become a gold mine of energy to the store's owner.
The non-hydrogenated vegetable oil can deep-fry finger foods for about 10 days before transforming into a sludge-like mess that must be disposed of.
Stokes heard about the possibility of using vegetable oil as fuel for a car engine, and recognizing his own supply of the oil, he decided to put the waste to better use.
"Not only am I not spending money on fuel, I'm saving not having to have it picked up," said Stokes.
Then he added a $3,000 conversion kit developed by a Seattle man.
The Mercedes still requires diesel fuel to start the car, but after only a mile of driving the system heats the oil enough to be used as fuel and then its all veggie oil - all the time.
Store owner John Stokes bought a $3,000 kit to convert the fuel tank on his Mercedes to run on vegetable oil.
"The most I've ever gone was 3,000 miles on one tank of diesel," said Stokes.
"It's probably 300 miles to the gallon, I guess," said Stokes.
And since he installed the converter in June, Stokes says he's driven about 9,000 miles, spending just over $100 on diesel fuel.
In less than a year, Stokes say cooking fried chicken with vegetable oil will result in the kit paying for itself.
He plans to install a 100-gallon tank in the bed of the truck, which he says could take him to Los Angeles and back on less than a tank of diesel fuel.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml