McDonald's franchises owner runs cars on used Vegetable Oil

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11809771/

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Fry fuel: McDonald’s franchisee runs cars on it
Leftover grease from his franchises powers his diesel cars

AMORY, Miss. - Most drivers fuel their vehicles with gasoline. Robert Tomey powers his with French fry grease.

The owner of four McDonald's — in Amory, Aberdeen, Houston and Vernon, Ala. — recently converted his Volkswagen Beetle and the company's Ford pickup truck to run on used vegetable oil drained from his fryers.

It's a little messy to pour into the gas tanks and smells a bit like popcorn when leaving the exhaust system, but the fry grease powers his vehicles the same as regular diesel.

And perhaps even better: Tomey once spent more than $350 a week for diesel — he now spends next to nothing.

"I couldn't believe it was that easy," Tomey said while pouring gooey grease into the tank of his silver Beetle. "It's incredible. I want everybody to do this."

Pacing between the Ford and the Beetle parked outside his Amory McDonald's, Tomey envisioned an alliance of Northeast Mississippians running their cars on his grease. If they make the conversion, he said, he'll supply the fuel. He's got enough of it to power 20-30 vehicles annually.

10,000 gallon supply
"I throw away 10,000 gallons of grease every year from all my locations," Tomey said. "I have more than I can use."

Such an alliance is likely, said Steve McMullen, service manager at Aberdeen Ford, which converted Tomey's vehicles.

The conversions worked so well, he said, it'd be puzzling if more people didn't do the same thing.

McMullen and his team installed the converter kit that Tomey bought from a popular online vendor, Greasecar. First they outfitted the Ford. Then, after Tomey saw that it worked, they installed a second kit for the Beetle.

Instead of compromising the integrity of the vehicles, the conversions actually boosted performance, McMullen said.

"The engine runs cooler," he said. "I think it's because the flash point — the ignition point — of that grease is lower than the diesel fuel."

System uses two tanks
Converted vehicles using Greasecar have two gas tanks. Drivers pour diesel into the regular tank and vegetable oil into a separate tank. In the Beetle, for example, that tank is in the trunk.

A switch installed in the cab allows drivers to alternate between the two fuel systems. When Tomey starts his Beetle he activates the diesel tank to warm the car and heat the vegetable oil.

"If I didn't heat it in this weather, it'd be too thick to run through the engine," he said from inside his running car. "After it heats up, it gets to the same consistency as the diesel."

At that point, Tomey flipped to the second tank and the car pumped pure vegetable oil into the motor.

"If I filled both tanks with this stuff, I could go 1,500 miles without ever stopping for gas," he said. "I've already gone 600 miles and used only a couple of gallons of diesel."

Purge process a must
Before shutting down the vehicle for a prolonged time, Tomey switches back to the diesel tank to purge the oil from the motor. That prevents vegetable oil from hardening in the fuel lines.

The entire conversion cost about $1,350 per vehicle — $795 for the kit and $550 for the installation. Tomey will recoup that cost in about eight months with the money he'll save on diesel.

But it's not about the money as much as it's about political independence from overseas fuel sources and environmental sustainability, Tomey said.

Vegetable oil doesn't pollute the environment the way diesel fuel does, according to Greasecar. And getting oil from the local McDonald's or other restaurants willing to donate it cuts out Big Oil suppliers that tap the Middle East.

Alternate fuels exist, Tomey said, people just have to look for them. If the current gas crunch has done anything, he said, it's converted a few more vehicles and a few more minds.

"Almost everywhere I go, people are asking me questions about my cars," said Tomey, whose Beetle sports a Greasecar bumper sticker and a license plate that reads "Frybrid."

"They're curious, and that's good."

+1 to whoever pulls the ultimate Fight Club diesel and runs their car on processed liposuction fat.

If I owned a Macdonalds, I would not hesistate doing that. Since its the company car, you wouldnt have to drive far anyway. haha

I wonder if the bio-diesel hippies are going to be mad because a McDonalds owner is using it. :rolleyes:

There have been articles about people getting used vegetable oil from restaraunts in San Francisco for a couple years now. The restaraunt owners have no problem handing it over as it rids them of the cost of having to dispose of the veggie oil.

Its a good idea, but its just not sustainable.......its a limited resource, as are diesel powered autos that arent powerstroke 1-tons. This is the first Ive heard of pouring raw, unprocessed veggie oil into a fuel tank, though. Ive always thought that it had to be processed into biodiesel with some chemical catalysts to be usable, which makes a myriad of by-products, some usable, some not. More power to him, but it only addresses the reliance on the oil market and not the ecological aspect of our problems.

If I ever buy a house and have a place to set up, I'd love to try out biodiesel.

What does this have to do with biodiesel?

I wonder if the bio-diesel hippies are going to be mad because a McDonalds owner is using it. :rolleyes:

i read an artilce about something simmilar 4-5 years ago where college kids converted a vanagon to run on fry oil +small amount of desil
they would pull up to a fast food place and ask for used oil .. run it through a filter and drive to the next town ..

Its a good idea, but its just not sustainable.......its a limited resource, as are diesel powered autos that arent powerstroke 1-tons.Vegetables are a limited resource? I suppose in the strictest sense they are, but not nealy as finite as crude oil. Also, diesel autos aren't difficult to come by, especially in Europe. Subaru will have their own diesel motor in a couple of years' time.

This is the first Ive heard of pouring raw, unprocessed veggie oil into a fuel tank, though. Ive always thought that it had to be processed into biodiesel with some chemical catalysts to be usable, which makes a myriad of by-products, some usable, some not.

That is why the oil is heated first, to lower its viscosity. Biodiesel doesn't have to be heated to run in the tank. Biodiesel can be made from veggy oil from fryers, but costs are still more than regular diesel fuel.

I did the math and with a $800 initial fee of setup, driving around 200 miles per week, it would take 2 years to pay off the $800, not to mention the time-value cost of finding the used oil and filtering it. But with gasoline still not going down in price, it might be worth it. Still e85 is still an option.

I wonder if the bio-diesel hippies are going to be mad because a McDonalds owner is using it. :rolleyes:
A. It's not bio-diesel, it's grease.
B. Your statement is extremely ignorant. The "hippies" that you speak of are probably very happy that mainstream people are doing something environmentally friendly. Environmentalists want everyone to be more environmentally friendly.

Vegetables are a limited resource? I suppose in the strictest sense they are, but not nealy as finite as crude oil. Also, diesel autos aren't difficult to come by, especially in Europe. Subaru will have their own diesel motor in a couple of years' time.

Well, vegetables aren't limited - but he said he has enough oil to supply a group of 20-30 people. He owns 4 McDonalds. So, there aren't enough restaurants around to supply the grease for everyone. So if lots of people converted we'd probably have more demand for this oil which would drive up prices of vegetable oil, and likewise, food prices would increase. I like the idea of being able to "grow" fuel but I'm not sure what the impacts would be if food prices and fuel prices were linked to the same source. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

We dump 10's of millions of tons of used vegetables in land fills every year. Also, biodiesel CAN be made cheaper, especially as our fuel prices rise. Germany makes and uses almost 100 times the amount of biodiesel that we do. Italy, along with other countries in EU use B5 (5% biodiesel) in all diesel sold at pumps.
Just some FYI

that car needs fish oils

Many corrections have been said already so no need for me to repeat.

:sneeze:

hmmm...i smell a OTS Cobb vegetable oil map (base map of course) LOL :)

A. It's not bio-diesel, it's grease.
B. Your statement is extremely ignorant. The "hippies" that you speak of are probably very happy that mainstream people are doing something environmentally friendly. Environmentalists want everyone to be more environmentally friendly.
A. My post a few before yours here acknowledges that I mistook it for bio diesel at first. Yes it is grease.
B. I know a great deal of people who would resent this guy's action purely because its the owner of a McD's franchise. Not saying they are right, just saying that "hippies" can be very uppity, at least where I am at and where I'm from and that the resentment would not surprise me.

Also, vegetable oil isnt made from vegetables per se, usually it is made from soy or corn, and also canola, etc. But soy or corn are the primary, cost-effective versions. Corn cultivation can really strip farmland of nutrients if not properly rotated with other crops (I believe that corn and sugarcane are the worst at this), soy is less leaching of the soil, but still faces similar issues. Vegetables arent a very limited resource at all, but the oil doesn't come from just general "veggies", which is too bad. Grocery stores and even eco-grocery stores like Wild Oats and Whole Foods cannot help but lose or waste a ton of veggies as their loss-leader. It is a necessary evil. So, this is, in my eyes, a limited resource.

A. My post a few before yours here acknowledges that I mistook it for bio diesel at first. Yes it is grease.
B. I know a great deal of people who would resent this guy's action purely because its the owner of a McD's franchise. Not saying they are right, just saying that "hippies" can be very uppity, at least where I am at and where I'm from and that the resentment would not surprise me.


Honestly, do you even know what a "hippy" is?

I swear, ever since South Park started using that word, people have been throwing it around with reckless abandon. And before you say you know hippies, I was born in San Francisco, in the 60's, I grew up in Berkeley and I went to university of Oregon, I KNOW hippies.

Every environmentalist I know thinks it's great that the McD's guy is putting the grease to good use. As far as they, and I, are concerned, it's a win-win. People can still have their junk food, AND help the environment.

And if you know a lot of people who would resent this guy, maybe you need to find new friends.

This has been around for a while guys, check out this website www.greasecar.com the guy who runs the site has been doing this for years.

This has been around for a while guys, check out this website www.greasecar.com the guy who runs the site has been doing this for years.
OK, terrific

The article, though, is from this week.

Very nice. If I had that much grease laying around, I wouldn't hesitate doing this to my diesel car either...

There are a lot of fish'n'chip shop owners in the UK running their diesels on the old oil. It would otherwise have been dumped. It is illegal of you do not pay the duty on it to the government (at a ridiculous rate in the UK, around 65p a litre, or ~$4 a gallon), so after lots were not paying, they sent inspectors to check.

How do you check? From the smell of frying fish coming from the exhausts... :)

Mmmm, British Chips!

Hah... Greasecar. I know some of the people there. One I know has been auto-xing for many years... even did nationals with his converted car and many local events.

Good people, good idea. :)

--kC

Honestly, do you even know what a "hippy" is?

I swear, ever since South Park started using that word, people have been throwing it around with reckless abandon. And before you say you know hippies, I was born in San Francisco, in the 60's, I grew up in Berkeley and I went to university of Oregon, I KNOW hippies.

Every environmentalist I know thinks it's great that the McD's guy is putting the grease to good use. As far as they, and I, are concerned, it's a win-win. People can still have their junk food, AND help the environment.

And if you know a lot of people who would resent this guy, maybe you need to find new friends.
Jeez...lighten up, guy. Unfortunately, I do know waht hippies are, my friend. I too was born and raised in the bay, and was one for quite a while (I did some Dead tour, Jerry tour and others to both coasts multiple times), I'm only four years younger than you, you know (you were born in 1969, hmm..lots of observation you could have done before age 1.), and Ive done some time at UC Berkeley myself.
.....and also, as an environmentally minded fellow myself, I can appreciate what this guy is doing and I agree that it is a win-win, but you've missed my point completely. "hippys" as you spell them, can be a very uppity lot, especially among the nouveaux variety, and even though this guy is doing a good thing and providing a good example, many of the uppity variety may poo-poo his efforts solely on the basis that he owns a McD's franchise.
And lastly my friends are fine, I simply said that I know some people that are uppity and judgemental enough to shoot this guys good idea down solely on the basis that he is a McD's guy, I didn't say that they were my damn friends.

I just like to argue :)

We dump 10's of millions of tons of used vegetables in land fills every year. Also, biodiesel CAN be made cheaper, especially as our fuel prices rise. Germany makes and uses almost 100 times the amount of biodiesel that we do. Italy, along with other countries in EU use B5 (5% biodiesel) in all diesel sold at pumps.
Just some FYI

Yes, but they cut down thousands of acres of rainforest to do so... and it is not sustainable because their could never be enough biodeisel to match the current demand that motorists have for gasoline.

Hippies just bug me. I was one for years, but I was able to recover, thankfully. I now live in Reno and go to UNR here. There is quite a large population of uppity, "fashionably vegan" types who just love to view the world down the bridge of their noses...their dirty, pierced noses. It gets on my nerves a plenty. If this article was presented to certain populations here at UNR without mentioning the fact that he owns a McD's, they would love it. The same article presented that mentioned his afilliation, would likely get shot down with a patchouli missile.

Hippies just bug me. I was one for years

Sounds like some self-loathing is going on.

Might I recommend a good therapist?

Sounds like some self-loathing is going on.

Might I recommend a good therapist?
Got one, last name Meat first name Red. His assistant: Walker, Johnnie. :lol:

Cow Killer!

Who cuts down thousands of acres of rainforest? McD's? Why does that make it bad that a guy who happened to buy a few McD's is trying to reduce the amount of pollution he creates and fossil fuels he purchases? Also, not many Biodiesel advocates claim that it is the "end-all, be-all" to the global energy crisis. In fact, most state clearly, that it is merely a way we can slow down our destruction of the earth until we find a more sustainable, renewable energy source.

I'm not quite sure the point your trying to make. Should I not be running my cars off Biodiesel? Biodiesel makes a hell of lot more sense than ethanol in this country's current enegery situation (yes, I know about Brazil).

Not to mention I pay $4 a gallon for biodiesel before the 50% rebate the state of Maryland gives me in return, $2 a gallon beats the hell out of $2.65 for petro-diesel.

Yes, but they cut down thousands of acres of rainforest to do so... and it is not sustainable because their could never be enough biodeisel to match the current demand that motorists have for gasoline.

Cow Killer!
They are so much harder to eat when they are running away.....