DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

I saw a weird bumper sticker on a lightpost downtown recently: “Drive Vegetarian.” It’s funny, but what does it mean? My motorbike isn’t on the Atkins diet.

Below the slogan appeared a domain name: greasecar.com. The website there taught me something astounding: any diesel passenger vehicle or light truck can be converted to burn used vegetable oil instead of diesel fuel.

Think about that for a minute. You could drive a perfectly regular car, but burn no fossil fuels. It’s great for the environment and great for US foreign policy. (If the Bush administration knew about this technology, they’d be staging an armed invasion of your local diner.)

Alternative-fueled vehicles usually carry some sort of compromise. I don’t see any here. The cars are full-sized, work in any weather, and have plenty of power. You could even continue to burn diesel fuel (or, better, bio-diesel if it’s available). This means that, if need be, you can pretend you don’t have an alternative-fuel vehicle; you can just drive to the neighborhood gas station and “fill ‘er up” like everybody else.

There are significant advantages to burning grease, as compared to diesel or gasoline, according to the SF Chronicle: “[Grease-burning engines] emit fewer toxic byproducts, they utilize fuel from renewable sources and they consume a waste product that must otherwise be disposed of by less efficient means.”

If you think that’s neat, check this out: grease is free. Most restaurants would be happy to have someone take it off their hands.

My research indicates that it’s getting even easier to buy used cooking oil — you need not strike back-alley deals with the fry cook at the neighborhood greasy spoon. Co-ops have formed in California, Oregon, and Massachusetts. See also the Regional Biodiesel links in Biodiesel.com’s forums.

Here’s the thing that most people never think about: fossil fuels are not a renewable resource. The ubiquity of filling stations might make it seem as if there is an endless supply of oil, but this is simply untrue. We will run out — sooner rather than later, according to the trend analyses showing increased demand. We can drill more wells, fight more wars, or fund alternative-fuel research. Seems to me that driving a “greasecar” is a painless way to be part of the solution.