French fries in the fuel tank

In these days of eye-popping gas prices, Mike Leahy gets fuel for his Volkswagen Beetle at the Barking Dog, a popular pub.

In these days of eye-popping gas prices, Mike Leahy gets fuel for his Volkswagen Beetle at the Barking Dog, a popular pub. Shane Sellers fuels up at a Chinese restaurant in Maryland. And Ben Tonken heads to a Tex-Mex eatery in Washington. ‘‘There’s a bit of a smell when you get out,’’ said Leahy, a Washington lawyer. ‘‘A slight french fry smell. I kind of like it; it’s kind of sweet. It smells better than diesel.’’

Welcome to the world of greasel—the shorthand some use for grease and diesel. Leahy and the others are among a tiny but growing band of environmentalists and thrifty consumers who are turning to restaurants for free, used vegetable oil to fuel their diesel-engine cars. With a little filtration and a car conversion kit, oil that once fried potatoes, egg rolls or tortilla chips is ready for its second act: air pollution fighter.

Sure, saving the world would be nice. But these folks don’t really expect to. Most seem to be getting their hands greasy more to prove a point: There are alternatives to fossil fuels, and vegetable oil, according to studies, burns cleaner than diesel fuel. What’s more, it can save money.

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As for performance, drivers say there’s virtually no difference. Wear and tear on the engine is the same, as is acceleration. So is fuel mileage: about 40 to 55 miles per gallon, depending on the vehicle.

When Sellers, 31, bought an $800 conversion kit two years ago, ‘‘it had nothing to do with fuel prices; it was just a decision on having some sort of independence and challenging the use of fossil fuels,’’ said the adjunct professor of art at Frederick Community College. But with fuel prices skyrocketing, he’s saving $80 to $100 a month. Sellers is already on his second grease car, a 2002 VW Golf hatchback. He installed the conversion kit himself, but those who lack the mechanical chops pay an average of $900 to have it done. Installation in trucks can cost as much as $2,500.

Sellers’ car still uses diesel when it has to. But once the engine and the vegetable oil warm up, he flips a switch to convert to vegetable oil, which is stored in a separate fuel tank. He burns about 30 gallons a month, mostly canola oil.

About a half-dozen times a day, as businessman Ben Tonken’s silver 2002 VW Jetta station wagon idles at a red light, fellow motorists pepper him with questions after spotting the car’s ‘‘powered by vegetable oil’’ decal. ‘‘Some people laugh,’’ said Tonken, 32, as he drove in Northwest Washington. ‘‘That’s unfortunate. They’re the nonbelievers.’’

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Jim Hickey, 46, also gets his share of wisecracks as he drives his 1984 Volvo equipped with a VW diesel engine. He fuels his car with canola oil that has fried tempura shrimp, vegetables and chicken at The Orchard, his whole-foods restaurant in Frederick. ‘‘It smells more like a chicken barbecue,’’ Hickey said. ‘‘Everyone laughs about it.’’ And some ask: ‘‘How’s the tempura taxi running?’’

Jokes aside, the idea is catching on, said Lee Briante, a spokesman for Greasecar in Amherst, Massachusetts, one of the largest manufacturers of conversion kits. The company has gone from selling about 20 kits a month in 2000 to as many as 100 a week this year, he said. In its six years of existence, the company has sold 3,000 kits. ‘‘In general, we see a direct relationship with fuel prices to sales,’’ Briante said. ‘‘Over the last two years, I’d say more folks just can’t afford to run their vehicles.’’

Jonathan Overly, executive director of the East Tennessee Clean Fuels Coalition, sees limited growth ahead. ‘‘It’s really going to be your green community,’’ he said. And people must be determined enough to collect used oil from restaurants. ‘‘There’s a whole lot of individuals who don’t want to do that,’’ Overly said. Still, the ‘‘greasers’’ remain true to their low-tech fuel.

— Allan Lengel (The Washington post)