Washington Week . Student Voices

Vegetable oil fuels car on Argentine trip
By Elysha Tenenbaum
Daily Californian (U. California-Berkeley)
06/21/2004

(U-WIRE) BERKELEY, Calif. — Potato chips are for more than just eating — they're also for fueling cars, according to David Modersbach and Mali Blotta, two Oakland, Calif., residents who drove 11,000 miles to Argentina with their 4-year-old son using recycled vegetable oil to fuel their car.

In each of the 11 countries they drove through, the family delivered a message about using sustainable energy sources.

The couple converted a $400 1980 Volkswagen Dasher, purchased on eBay with 300,000 miles on it, into a vegetable oil vehicle by making a second fuel tank from Coca-Cola bottles.

The engine integrated petroleum and vegetable oil using small amounts of diesel to start the engine and then switching to recycled vegetable oil for driving.

During their five-month trek to Argentina, the family refueled with used vegetable oil from chip factories and fast food restaurants, a free alternative to petroleum diesel.

"In the U.S., oil is very easy to find," Modersbach said, "I don't recommend veggie oil traveling in Mexico and South America."

Blotta, originally from Argentina, said that her family wanted to teach people across the 11 countries hit during their journey about an alternative to toxic waste fuels, which "contaminate and poison foods."

But critics say biodiesel produces more smog by putting out more nitrogen oxide.

Making biodiesel from vegetable oil involves a technique to convert the chemical composition of the oil to act like traditional diesel fuel.

Modifications to a diesel engine allow it to run on straight vegetable oil, instead of the chemically altered form.

Biofuel is seen by some as a domestic solution to foreign oil dependency, but the United States has yet to take off with the 100-year-old discovery because there is no market for it, said Daniel Kammen, a University of California-Berkeley professor of public policy.

"This is a very attractive way to produce the amount of gasoline we need, but we would have to jump-start the industry," Kammen said. "There's a clear market for it in Brazil where a certain percentage of all transportation fuel is biofuel. They're taking an aggressive policy in terms of developing a demand for it."

Biodiesel, a product made from food waste, worked its way into all of Berkeley's city-owned diesel vehicles starting last year.

But Kammen said the United States is unlikely to switch over to vegetable oil vehicles as long as existing vehicles continue to be more efficient.

Modersbach said his family was motivated to take the trip not just because of the environmental message, but also to save money on airfare and gasoline expenses.

At about 30 miles per gallon of vegetable oil, the trip took five months because of several "bumps in the road." The family initially planned on reaching Argentina in three, but slashed tires and engine failures brought unexpected delays.

"We just kept chugging along," Modersbach said.

[ Back to Student Voices ]

-->