Even though they're not the first to do it, a group of 13 students from Middlebury College in Vermont took to the road in May 2003 driving a school bus that was powered by used vegetable oil. Their trip? Drive across the country, from Vermont to Washington state. Gas stations? Try stopping at cafeterias and fast-food joints to collect their discarded cooking oil. Smell? One of the students said, "it smells a little bit like whatever it was used to fry -- sometimes you get onion rings, french fries, chicken patties". In the late 1990s, activist Joshua Tickell drove all around the country racking up 25,000 miles on his Veggie Van USA tours. Joshua Tickell wrote a book "From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank: The Complete Guide to Using Vegetable Oil as Alternative Fuel", and it helps illustrate the inner-workings of a biodiesel engine. Future impact? In 2001, the John Deere Company approved the user of biodiesel in all of its diesel-powered equipment. With the threat of petroleum sources running dry in the near future, perhaps other vehicles might crop up. Used vegetable oil isn't anything other than waste, so finding a way to re-use it seems like a great idea (especially in fast-food crazy America). Related links:
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