Date:         Wed, 9 Aug 2000 08:06:45 -0700
Reply-To:     Ari Ollikainen <Ari@OLTECO.com>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Ari Ollikainen <Ari@OLTECO.com>
Subject:      Grease GUZZLER!
Content-type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"

        [Exerpted from this morning's edition of the San Francisco
        Chronicle...conversion rationale and trip documentation at
         http://www.greasecar.com/Turbo_Meat.html ]

GREASE GUZZLER

Two Massachusetts men journey west in van that runs on fat and
cooking oil

Glen Martin, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 9, 2000

Perhaps it's not surprising that a VW van piloted by two young men
would reek of maple bars, hamburgers, fried chicken and bacon after a
cross- country tour -- road food, after all, is a big part of the
road trip experience.

But Justin Carven and his lifelong friend, Skip Wrightson, aren't the
only ones scarfing the junk food on a trip from New England to
California and back. Their Volkswagen van is addicted as well.

Carven, 23, and Wrightson, 22, left their native state of
Massachusetts on July 13, determine to drive across the nation and
back on funky old cooking oil and fat.

Instead of filling up at Shell stations along the interstate, they
prowled towns and cities for mom- and-pop restaurants, fueling their
rig with the dregs of deep fat fryers.

They blew into San Francisco a couple of days ago, and plan to spend
today in Oakland before lighting out for Los Angeles.

The 1982 blue VW Westfalia camper the two men are driving is powered
by a unique diesel engine Carven designed and built, one that runs on
virtually any kind of oleaginous material poured into its tank.

The van has been getting about 25 to 27 miles per gallon of grease,
said Wrightson.

Carven eventually hopes to sell kits based on his invention so anyone
with a little mechanical ability can convert a diesel engine to run
on waste grease.

Carven came up with his engine

at Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., where he recently received a
degree in appropriate technology development.

The project earned a $14,000 grant from the National Collegiate
Innovators and Inventors Alliance.

Fat-burning diesels have been around a while, but most require
chemical treatment of the grease to reduce viscosity and to make it
free- flowing.

Carven has taken another approach, using a heating system to keep the
fuel running smoothly.

        [...]

        Read the complete story, including pictures, at
        http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/200
0/08/09/MN85083.DTL




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                                                          -- Mark Twain.
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        OLTECO                    Ari Ollikainen
        P.O. BOX 3688             Networking Architecture and Technology
        Stanford, CA              Ari@OLTECO.com
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