What do you mean, you run on Veggie Oil?

Just that, our bus runs on used vegetable oil rather than diesel.

How do you do that?
You put veggie oil in the tank and then hit the gas pedal. Oh, you mean how do you get your vehicle to be able to run that way? First, you need a diesel engine. Then you need to get a conversion done on your vehicle. All diesel engines are able to run on grease, but the trick is to get the grease into the engine nice and clean and very hot. So the conversion does just that, it filters and heats the oil.

How much does the conversion cost?

Depends on what kind of system you get. You pay for convenience. If you want to do it all yourself and you are dealing with a car, you can start as low as a few hundred bucks. But that means you'll be doing a lot of the filtering by hand, pouring grease over filters, trying not to get it all over you. To get a nice system with pumps and have someone do the work for you will cost you about $2000 for a car, $5000 for a bus.

Is that the same as bio-diesel?

No, it's not. Basically, to run your vehicle on vegetable oil, you have to either convert your vehicle or your vegetable oil. When you convert your vehicle like we did, it is called Straight Vegetable Oil (SVO) because you are literally putting straight vegetable oil in your tank and then you drive. The filter and heating system makes sure the oil doesn’t congeal and clog things up.
Biodiesel on the other hand is converted vegetable oil. It is made out of used grease taken from restaurants or other places that throw away vegetable oil. The oil is filtered really well and to keep it from congealing it is treated with methanol and lye.

Can any diesel vehicle be converted to SVO or drive on Bio-diesel?

Yes and yes. If you are burning a lot of fuel, the SVO conversion is for you. You will keep your diesel tank to start and stop your engine. Once the engine is really hot, you flip a switch on your dashboard and start burning veggie oil instead of diesel. When you stop for a longer period of time, you switch back to diesel to flush the veggie oil out of the engine so that when the engine cools, it will have diesel sitting in it.
If you are not going through a lot of fuel, bio diesel is the way to go. You will save yourself the money for the conversion and you could put it towards setting up a little workshop in your garage to make your own bio, or you can purchase it at certain gas stations for about the same price as diesel, or you ask around and find someone who makes their own bio diesel and buy their home-brew from them.

How much does Bio-diesel and Veggie Oil cost and where do you get it from?

Bio depends on where you purchase it. We filled up in Portland at $3 a gallon, in Santa Cruz at $3.15 and if you find a home brew you might get it cheaper still. If you make it yourself after the set-up cost it'll run you about 70 cents a gallon.
Veggie Oil is free. The filter system that is part of the conversion allows you to drive on used grease so you are actually using a waste product for fuel. If you are settled in one place, you just find a nice restaurant that has clean grease and ask them for it. You can set it up so that you have a regularly scheduled pick-up. Usually the restaurant has to pay to dispose of their used grease, so usually they're happy to give it to you. If you're traveling it's a bit more tricky, see below.

So you just pull up in front of McDonald's and pump out their grease?

OH NO, not McDonald's. Their grease is NASTY and if you don’t believe us, go check out their grease dumpster some time. Their stuff is as bad for your vehicle as is for your body and the environment. American food places are the worst, really. Not only do they keep frying in their grease for as long as they can, they dump all the crap they scrape off the grills into the dumpster as well and all of the animal grease makes the dumpster congeal and rancid. YUCK.
Independent Asian restaurants are the best. While traveling the pump & run method has proven to work the best. A lot of restaurant owners don't speak English or are just so confused by your request for their dirty oil that they say "no" just so they don’t have to deal with it. Sometimes it is easier to ask forgiveness than permission and really, you're taking trash so it should be no problem. Once we had a problem getting grease because the last guy who got grease made a big mess in the restaurant's lot. So please be clean and curteous! We usually ride our bikes around towns we get into at dusk and then pump either that night or the next morning. With our system we just stick a hose into the grease dumpster and flip a switch. The pump itself has metal filters that don't let junk through and when they start to clog, we hit the switch to go the other way and it flushes the dirt right back into the dumpster. We only have to change our one filter by the engine every 700-1000 miles and they're only $10 a filter.

So what's the gas mileage of SVO & Bio?

Same as your diesel gas mileage. We get about 8 miles to the gallon in our school bus.

Is it true...?

Don’t you loose a ton of power burning grease instead of diesel?
No, we still race up the hills at 19 miles per hour! Seriously though, you hardly notice the difference and if it ever comes down to it, you can always switch back to diesel.

Is it true that bio diesel corrodes your fuel lines and clogs your system?
Yes and no. There are certain precautions to take especially in cold weather. Check out www.???.com for myths and facts on burning Bio.

What's the environmental impact of bio & SVO?

Bio puts out no pollutants but laughing gas. How cool is that?
SVO has the same environmental impact as frying food whatever that is.
Both are based on agriculture rather than fossil fuels. By using bio-diesel or SVO you are supporting recycling and agriculture rather than the oil industry. No war required for dirty grease, it'll be a long time yet before anyone will start a first-fight over a grease dumpster.

So then why doesn’t everybody do it?

1. Not everybody knows about it and there are a lot of false rumors floating around.
2. People hear about it but won't do because it's to unconventional.
3. With SVO you have to be willing to deal with dirty grease, with bio you have to take a few precautions.
4. It's less convenient, you can't just pull up to any gas station anywhere.
5. You need a diesel vehicle.
#1 doesn’t apply to you anymore, 2-4 are lame reasons and if you have a gasoline vehicle you can always sell it and buy a diesel. You're not everybody, so why don't you do it? Don’t follow the masses in burning gasoline, go alternative. No blood for oil but grease for peace.