TreeHuggerTV – Lovecraft Fuels
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 05.11.06
Ahah! Here we are! We bring THTV to you this week a little later than usual, but the wrinkle has been ironed out and we're back on track. If only we could run THTV on Biofuel then things would go so smoothly! Talking of Biofuel... funnily enough that's what this week's episode is all about. Lovecraft Biofuel is the new hot spot in Los Angeles, California. Brian and his team of hard working mechanics can convert your diesel engine into 100% vegetable oil running, eco-friendly vehicles. They specialize in Mercedes Benz, but can also convert other diesels to help keep our environment clean! ::Lovecraft Biofuels
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Actually, I just watched Mythbusters on the tube last night, and they did a show all about fuel efficiency... and they found out that a diesel Benz that gets 33 mpg will get 30 mpg from used, filtered, veggie oil, without any conversion whatsoever.
Pretty cool stuff. I'm sure there's some benefit to getting your car "officially" converted, but it's neat to know you can just run it as-is to try it out and see how viable it is for you before investing the money.
I've heard you will gum up your engines innards fairly soon.
I remember reading that the Nazi Army ran out of diesel for their trucks and tanks while invading Russia, and the general commanded them to fill up with vegetable oil (plundered from the locals, of course), which worked fine - till they ran out of veg oil, as well.
Nice one! Best episode yet!
So, when all the episodes come out on DVD, will we see a director's cut with extended interviews and extra footage? :)
That's called the "one-tank" method. Very dangerous in any climate that gets cold. Even in warm climates, most one-tankers still run a mix of WVO, diesel, and even a little bit of gasoline.
See, when the thick WVO gets injected into the chamber, it won't atomize properly and leaves some unburned. This can get past the rings and "coke" up the piston. If/when this happens, your engine is toast. Before that, though, your injection pump may give up as the thicker fluid is too hard to pull.
Bottom line, unless civilization ends, gangs rule the roads, don't do a one-tank setup.
Love the video...not really psyched to see so much love for soybean oil, but it's a start. We should be backing higher yield crops like switchgrass or Maize.. for each unit of energy spent in fossil fuel, the return is 0.778 unit of energy in maize ethanol while it is only 0.534 unit in soybean biodiesel.
Regular (filtered) used veggie oil will burn just fine in any diesel engine. Dr. Rudolf Diesel originally ran the Diesel engine to run on straight peanut oil.
The only problem with "gumming up" that may be experienced, is if it's cold out. Then the veggie oil can congel and not move!
That's why if you live in a cold climate you need a heating system for the veggie oil and you have to run on either Biodiesel or petruloum diesl to when starting the engine to wait for the veggie oil to get up to temp. and then switch back to biodiesel or petroleum diesel before shutting it down again to clean the fuel lines of it before turning the engine off.