From Fast Food To Fast Trucks: 'Biodiesel' Is On Its Way, Dave Williamson, TomPaine.com
Virtually edible and less toxic than table salt, biodiesel could be coming to a filling station near you. We've been hearing about biodiesel for years, but now the Ecology Center in Berkeley, which last year installed the first biodiesel fueling station in the country, is proving it's not all hype. When the Center first started running its truck fleet on biodiesel, said recycling director Dave Williamson, there were two immediate effects. "First, there was a decrease in engine vibration." he writes on TomPaine.com. "Second, instead of spewing a sooty cloud, the tailpipe ran clean and emitted an aroma of French fries." Biodiesel fuel, he adds, can be produced locally from a variety of substances, including used cooking oil. "We don't have to go above the Arctic Circle to get biodiesel," Williamson states. "No oil wells need be drilled to obtain biodiesel: it is available anywhere there is a deep-fat fryer."
--Sara V. Buckwitz
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