From Deseret News archives:

Weary of gas prices, drivers turning to illegal veggie oil

Published: Sunday, Aug. 17, 2008 12:39 a.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
HEBER CITY — A faint odor of restaurant grease lingers in the back of a steel welding shop off U.S. 40, but no burgers or fries are served here.

Over the vrooms of diesel-powered trucks driving through the Heber Valley, Bill Hartlieb explains how two 55-gallon drums are filtering waste vegetable oil, converting it into fuels that can power cars and trucks, as well as farm and construction equipment.

"This is water and funk and Lord knows what," Hartlieb says, referring to vegetable oil in one of the drums that he got from a pub in Park City. "Chicken bits and all that crap. And so it's not glamorous. I wouldn't recommend every garage have a biodiesel-making plant."

Hartlieb's setup is a refinery of sorts, small scale and relatively low tech — and also illegal, according to federal law.

But he disputes that his hobby violates the Clean Air Act, since fuels derived from vegetable oil have fewer emissions than petroleum.

"I think it's really kind of a gray issue," he says.

Even so, he says he can't make most of the fuel he needs, and he ends up buying 80 percent of his fuel at a Park City station that sells biodiesel.

Story continues below
High fuel prices and global warming have made fuels derived from vegetable oil more attractive. Hartlieb is among a growing number of Utahns who are using and making biodiesel and straight vegetable oil fuel, or SVO.

For Hartlieb, the process of making fuel from soybean and canola oils is about finding a renewable alternative to petroleum.

"The big difference is this comes from a farmer's field," he says. "This doesn't require an Iraq war."

It's also about experimentation and the scientific process. "I just love to be able to tinker with this stuff," says Hartlieb, who has a degree in aerospace engineering from St. Louis University and works in product development at Backcountry.com.

But the growing popularity of tinkering with fuels derived from vegetable oil may be fraught with legal consequences. The Environmental Protection Agency has a list of companies that are certified to convert vehicles to alternative fuel. No companies for SVO kits are listed.

"Basically, all diesel fuels and gasoline fuels and fuel additives are required to be registered with the EPA," says Jeff Kimes, a Denver-based EPA environmental engineer. "Let's say you want to start making biodiesel and introduce it into commerce. You have to register it with the EPA."

At least one SVO conversion-kit company is in the process of testing with the EPA. But the fuel has not been approved by the EPA.

Recent comments

The editor needs to print corrections on this article, which...

Maud | Dec. 3, 2008 at 5:33 a.m.

This article is total sensationalist garbage. there is nothing...

Brad | Dec. 2, 2008 at 1:40 p.m.

This article confuses veggie oil and biodiesel, which aren't the...

Biodiesel Educator | Dec. 1, 2008 at 12:18 p.m.

Image

Bill Hartlieb examines a test batch of filtered oil outside of his shop in Heber City in July.

previousnext

Latest comments

Ask just women of childbearing age do they want to decide their reproductive...

Letters: Say heck, not gosh

On behalf of the millions of people worldwide who worship the devine and...

That happened approximately 9 years ago.

Can BYU throw vs. Air Force?

For being a terrible program, Bronco still has one more win than Kyle...go...

3A: Juan Diego wins title

wow, that was a game. #56 for Hurricane seemed to be in on almost every...

That was the most amazing drive and play I have ever seen in high school...

Huntsman blasts media over trip

for stepping up and doing the right thing in challenging portions of the...

A majority of us are apposed to abortion, but we are in even greater...

"Speed kills. Speed beats size everytime. " haha, everytime eh? If that...

Can BYU throw vs. Air Force?

Air Force 35 BYU 21

Advertisements