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By CRAIG CROSBY
Staff Writer 11/30/2007

enlarge Staff photo by David Leaming

RECYCLED POWER: Unity College student Jake Harr inspects a filter sysem the removes particles from used vegetable oil from the college kitchen. Harr and other students have modified their diesel vehicles to run on the recycled fuel.

enlarge Staff photo by David Leaming

FILLER UP: Unity College student William Hafford fills a tank inside his pick up truck with filtered waste vegetable oil that was obtained and recycled from the college kitchen. The diesel truck runs on both a conventional system and another modified system that burns the alternative fuel.

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Owners of diesel-powered vehicles that have been converted to run on waste vegetable oil, the Unity College students have helped form a sort of grease-car cooperative that is not only streamlining the process for filling up, but connecting strangers who share a passion for driving on cooking oil.

"It seems like we talk grease a lot," Hafford said.

Grease cars, as they are sometimes called, are diesel vehicles that have been fitted with an extra fuel tank and other equipment that allow the engine to run on diesel and waste vegetable oil that has been strained of impurities.

The diesel is primarily burned until the waste vegetable oil can be heated to the proper temperature, at which point the driver flicks a switch and the car begins burning the vegetable oil stored in the spare tank.

While diesel fuel now costs as much as $3.65 a gallon, most restaurants are all too happy to give away their used vegetable oil rather than pay to have someone haul it off.

While they are cheaper to run, grease cars are perhaps most popular among environmentalists hoping to cut down on the sulfur and particulate matter their vehicles throw into the atmosphere.

"I'm a relatively cheap guy," Harr said. "I don't want to be spending $3 a gallon on fuel, but I also don't want to be putting all these emissions into the air."

A senior adventure leadership and adventure therapy major, Hafford purchased a complete kit from Greasecar Vegetable Fuel Systems and installed it in his 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit pickup over the summer.

"I did it with my dad in one weekend," Hafford said.

He said he can go up to 3,000 miles without having to add diesel.

Harr, a junior environmental writing major, spent nearly a year researching vegetable oil systems and designing his own system to best suit his 1978 Mercedes.

Unlike Hafford's Volkswagen, which uses the vehicle's coolant system to heat up the vegetable oil tank to the necessary 160 degrees, Harr's design includes a source-point heater that brings the oil up to temperature as it is burned.

Typically grease car owners are responsible for tracking down their own sources of waste vegetable oil, but this fall Hafford and Harr began working together to locate and refine the oil. Unity College gave the students use of a garage bay at an off-campus facility where the oil is stored and processed.

"It seemed ridiculous to me to have everyone collecting and filtering their own grease," Harr said.

The group now includes one other grease car owner, Chris McGrath, but it also has attracted a few other students who hope to own a grease car or who are just interested in alternative sources of fuel.

"People have been active that don't have a diesel car," Harr said. "One of them in particular doesn't even have a vehicle. He rides a bike."

The group has proven useful for more than just processing oil. The members get together to talk about the technology and systems available.

"I just kind of siphon off Jake's knowledge," Hafford said. "That was my number one motivation because I'm not a very mechanically inclined person."

The cooperative hopes to expand the process to include more storage and better delivery systems. Harr expects at least another three students to purchase grease car systems over the next year.

"This whole process is kind of a leap of faith," Hafford said.

Craig Crosby--861-9253

ccrosby@centralmaine.com

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