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Should I switch to straight veggie oil? What is holding SVO back?

We like to answer reader questions with our Greenlings series whenever possible, and thought that Timothy H. had a good topic. He sent in the following question/suggestion about straight vegetable oil (SVO): I have seen several articles dealing specifically with SVO, but not as it concerns the economic viability compared to petro-diesel. I mean there are articles out there, but I'm interested in knowing why I should/should not use SVO in my car, what benefits I have to look forward to, what problems people have had from using it, etc. Is ... Read more →

Can I convert an older vehicle to something more environmentally-friendly?

Cash For Clunkers is officially over and helped put almost 700,000 new cars on the road. Now that the easy $4,500 are no longer available to buyers with low-mpg cars, we thought it'd be a good ...

What is the difference between biodiesel and SVO?

if you're used to filling up your car with standard gasoline, the difference between biodiesel and straight vegetable oil (SVO, but it also has other names) might be a clear as mud. Here's a cheat ...

Michigan students power buses with veggie oil

It's no secret to the majority of our readers that it is possible to run many older diesel engines on nothing more than straight vegetable oil. In fact, the first diesel engine, invented by Rudolph ...

Craigslist Find of the Day: '67 Mercury Cougar with Mercedes diesel engine

Click on the image for high-res shots of this diesel 1967 Mercury Cougar Much of the vegetable oil and biodiesel movement centers around the classic Mercedes-Benz inline six cylinder engine, but fine ...

Instructable of the day: converting an old school bus to veggie-power 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

If you are reading our site, you are probably already familiar with the fact that any diesel vehicle can run on biodiesel. As a matter of fact, most any can diesel vehicle can even run on used vegetable oil with just a few modifications. There are some issues with vegetable oil which must first be ...

Biofuels and road taxes, the Alaska edition 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

In many places around the world, roads are financed at least in part by a tax added to the price of fuel. When we head to the pumps, we pay for a little bit of the road we drive out onto as we leave the station. But people who make their own biofuels don't pay these taxes and yet they drive on ...

Across Australia on 40% water and 60% waste mineral oil (Bios Fuel H2W+) 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

The 20th World Solar Challenge took place in Australia in October. One of the more unusual fuel types in the Greenfleet Class of the Darwin to Adelaide race was used by a "Troupy," a lightly modified 1989 Toyota Landcruiser. According to Pure Energy Systems, the diesel-engined Troupy made the 3,000 ...

PlantDrive: Harvesting SVO, Fueling Fans 3 years ago on Autoblog Green

Ed Beggs grew diesel fuel in Ontario on his Canadian farm for years without realizing it. He called it soybeans back then. Today the British Columbia resident knows better. He likes to call it premium diesel fuel. Why the paradigm shift? Because Ed and his U.S. business partner, Craig Reece, ...

Not Your Father's Filling Station Opens in Oberlin, Ohio 3 years ago on Autoblog Green

Ray Holan is an accomplished auto mechanic, biofuel advocate, author of the book Sliding Home: A Complete Guide to Driving Your Diesel on Straight Vegetable Oil and regular feature contributor to AutoblogGreen. Once upon a time, the station at 141 South Main Street in the sleepy college town of ...

Worried about an accidental E85 fill-up? 3 years ago on Autoblog Green

There are a lot of considerations that go into greening your car. Some folks don’t mind the initial high cost of a hybrid or the work that goes into converting a diesel engine to run on SVO. Others see the rising cost of petroleum-based fuels and look to green technologies as a money saver. ...

Biodiesel Volkswagen delivery vehicles in Wisconsin. One more sign of the future. 3 years ago on Autoblog Green

This is a newspaper story we're going to be seeing more and more in the coming years. The Wisconsin State Journal set out to show how increasing gasoline prices are raising interest in biodiesel and other alternative fuels. The solid article then goes on to showcase local biodiesel promoters and ...

Beer and Biofuel finally come together to great effect 3 years ago on Autoblog Green

Ray Holan is an accomplished auto mechanic, biofuel advocate, author of the book Sliding Home: A Complete Guide to Driving Your Diesel on Straight Vegetable Oil and regular feature contributor to AutoblogGreen. Compared to a VW Jetta TDI, this truck's a monster. One look at the Great Lakes Brewing ...

Quick green fuel dictionary 3 years ago on Autoblog Green

If you’re new to the whole biofuel world, there may be a lot of terminology that you’re reading but not understanding. To that end, here’s a glossary of words we’ll be using regularly on AutoblogGreen, and what we mean when we use them. Stick around, and you’ll know ...



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