Posts Tagged ‘vegetable oil’

Earth, Wind and Vegetable Oil

Monday, December 8th, 2008

Terry Deck from Deck’s Geo-Electrical in Lumsden, SK writes:

Four years ago we installed geothermal to heat our buildings and now we have installed a wind turbine to offset the electrical energy that we use. Check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAD0QJdT9M4

Since geothermal runs on electricity, we felt the next step would be producing green electricity. The most natural way to do this in Saskatchewan is by using the wind. So this past summer we installed a 5Kw wind turbine that will generate almost all of our power needs. We have invested a lot of money and time, but are reducing our carbon footprint to nearly zero!

I also have a service truck that I use for my business that I have converted to run on vegetable oil. I collect the oil from local restaurants and filter it at home. The next plan is to convert a mini van to operate on electricity. We would plan to use the van for most of our small commutes around home. For long trips, we can then use my truck that will run on the vegetable oil.

Our planet gives us a lot and we feel we should give back so others will have it to enjoy for years to come. I have spent over 12 years working on green energy ideas and plan to spend many more. I invite anyone who may be interested in what I have done to offer their ideas and ask me questions. I am more than willing to offer advice if someone is interested. I truly have a passion for this and plan to continue my work to help our planet.

A little grease goes a long way

Wednesday, September 17th, 2008

Ian Graham fed his van 100% vegetable oil this summer when he embarked on the more than 2,000 km road trip from Kitchener, Ontario to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. He blogged his adventures, for which he only used solar power to charge his camping gear, iPod and to re-power the battery that runs the pump he uses to collect and filter the waste vegetable oil, at vegvan.ca .

His latest thrills have been looking into supplementing the vegetable oil with a small hydrogen cell for the van, and bringing with him a solar oven. Thanks for the inspiration Ian!