SL Visitors Cross the Country in “Green Machine”
A young couple from Portland, Oregon recently stopped by the Sustainable Living Department on their cross country adventure that has taken them down the West coast, across the Southwest to New Orleans, up to Pennsylvania and New York, and back across the Midwest on their way home. Although Tom Walther and April Cummins drove a 1986 Ford Van, they did not burn fossil fuel on their journey. They made the entire trip fueled by waste vegetable oil.
This summer, the MIU S
ustainable Living Department (SL) is in the process of moving our biodiesel brewing operation into a new facility. During the downtime, we have collected a backlog of waste vegetable oil (WVO) that we use to manufacture biodiesel for the SL vehicles. We placed an ad on Craigslist to get rid of some of the extra oil, and Tom responded. “Craigslist is a great resource for finding oil,” April explained, saying that they had gotten oil in numerous ways, including online contacts and face-to-face meetings with friendly strangers. “In New Orleans, we just went around to local restaurants, and they were happy to share.”
Tom has worked in the energy efficiency and weatherization business in the past, and got interested in running diesel engines on vegetable oil a few years ago. He has outfitted their van with two extra storage tanks, an aluminum pre-heating tank, and other special modifications that make it possible for a conventional diesel engine to run well on the more viscous WVO, along with special filtering equipment. This may seem like a radical idea to some readers, but in fact, Rudolph Diesel, the inventor of the diesel engine, built his original motors to burn peanut oil. Burning vegetable oil in a modern diesel engine is simply a matter of reverse-engineering.
Why do WVO enthusiasts like Tom and April choose to use pure vegetable oil rather than biodiesel? Biodiesel, the fuel that we make and use at SL, is simply a more highly refined version of vegetable oil. It can be burned in many conventional diesel engines, requiring no modification. However, the process of making quality biodiesel is a time consuming, and requires some tricky chemistry. WVO fans believe that by modifying their engines once, they eliminate all of the hard work of making biodiesel in the future. There are always downsides though – having a trouble-free WVO systems can require considerable
maintenance as well.
After topping off their tanks, Tom and April took a tour of the SL Center, and left with a couple of bags of fresh-picked lettuce and kale from the edible landscape around the center. “We had no idea about Fairfield and MIU,” April commented. “…But one thing I’ve learned on this trip is that there are great people all across the country.”
Via text, Tom let me know
that they unfortunately had a breakdown in the Nevada desert, but after some troubleshooting, were able to get running again and make it to California, where they plan to stay for several months before going back to Portland. “Running WVO is rewarding, but lots of work and ups and downs! …Thanks for the veggie and the tour!”
For more info about WVO and Tom’s system, contact him at: tomwalther27@gmail.com
For more info about the SL Biodiesel program, contact Rich Dana: rdana@mum.edu
Biodiesl Facts (from springboardbiodiesel.com)
Rich Dana is the Sustainable Living Department's Director of Microenterprise Development. He works directly with students to develop ideas and implement projects. He is a serial entrepreneur, a freelance writer and partner in Plan B Consulting. He has served as an energy specialist at the National Center for Appropriate Technology, President of the Iowa Renewable Energy Association, and lobbyist for the Iowa Farmers Union. At 53, he still likes to climb on roofs and install solar equipment.