Engineers as well as people looking for alternative fuel options have been experimenting with the use of vegetable oil as a fuel for over a hundred years. The petroleum shortages in the 30’s and 40’s catalyzed the research of vegetable oil as fuel and again in the 70’s and 80’s. This research shortly ended when gas prices fell and there was a greater interest in using biodiesel as an alternative fuel where extensive vehicle changes were not necessary.

Cars that Run on Vegetable Oil

Most car engines can use SVO (straight vegetable oil), which is also called PPO (pure plant oil). It has to be preheated to reduce the viscosity and surface tension. Without this heating process, poor atomization (changing the oil into a spray), incomplete combustion and carbonization may result.

In colder climates it is often necessary to heat the vegetable oil fuel lines and tank since the oil can become very thick and even solidify. One common solution is to mix the vegetable oil with the more conventional petroleum diesel fuel to reduce the viscosity of the oil, but it won’t completely fix the problem. Another solution is to obtain a two-tank system that uses petroleum diesel to start up and shut down the engine. It heats up the engine when turned on, switches to vegetable oil when warm, and then flushes out the vegetable oil fuel before the engine is shut off.

Other Vegetable Oil Uses

Along with being used as an alternative vehicle fuel, vegetable oil can be used to heat homes. This inexpensive heating option does have its problems however. Burning vegetable oil as fuel can cause damage to furnaces and boilers unless it is preheated.

The U.S. has produced over 11 billion liters of WVO (waste vegetable oil), which comes from deep fryers used in fast food restaurants, potato processing plants, and snack factories. This could compensate for almost one percent of U.S. consumption of oil, while eliminating the vast majority of waste vegetable oil formerly ending up in landfills or being improperly disposed of in our water supply. (Read about a promising biomass conversion technology, converting landfill waste to renewable energy.)

Visit our alternative energy resources page for more information about alternative fuel research and links to various websites that will keep you up-to-date with the latest in green energy.