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By Sandy Zimmerman |
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But keep eating those French fries! That might be the tag line for Jack Miller who has managed to re-engineer an old Mercedes so it runs on used vegetable oil. The oil is not only a renewable fuel, it's much cleaner than diesel, producing about 40% less soot; 50-75% cleaner over all. An eco-friendly solution! Local restaurants get rid of their used oil without having to pay for someone to take it away. No person or animal is robbed of potential food. And he has a free source of fuel. First Jack collects the oil from (with thanks to) Dixie Lee, Lakefield; Granny's Country Kitchen, Young's Point; Harvey's restaurants in Peterborough; New York Fries in Lansdowne Mall; Lakefield Secondary School; Wimpy's and the XTR Snack Bar. He gets the cleanest oil he can. But it still needs purifying. Sometimes he begins with the sun; its heat separates the oil from sludge. Then, using gravity, in a series of 12 stages, the oil is filtered until all the "sludge" is out. A pump moves the purified oil into an auxiliary tank housed in the trunk of his car, ready for use. Although the car already had 485,000 km on it, it performs well, running smoothly and quietly with no loss of power. A series of solenoid valves and gauges allow him to switch from the regular diesel to vegetable oil. Diesel fuel is used at first. Once the vegetable oil reaches the temperature needed (dependent upon outside conditions), it is ready for use. A flick of the switch and the car runs on vegetable oil. When ready to stop, the same procedure is done in reverse. He switches to diesel, removing the vegetable oil from the engine. Sounds simple, right? Well, the purchase of the car might be. But there it ends. One needs the capacity to think outside of the traditional mechanic's box; the imagination to visualize the completed process, the talent to create what is needed to make the process work, the precision and skill to work within minute clearances and then the patience and willingness to refine the whole operation until it is producing up to the high standard desired, and nothing less. He wants it "to run so anyone can operate it at top efficiency". Quite the challenge --- most of us hear about it and shake our heads. By the end of February, Jack had traveled 3,500 km with the converted car, frequently under extremely cold conditions. He hadn't yet needed to refill the diesel tank! His next step? To convert the diesel fuel to bio-diesel so that he is running completely on renewable resources.
Why Does He Bother?
Jack readily tells you why. He wants to be free of his dependence on large, multinational oil companies. He enjoys saving money and is aghast at the soaring prices for unleaded. Like his father, a classic recycler, he finds a second use for almost everything! However, by far the most important reason is that he cares for his kids, other peoples' kids, and the planet. He wants to help make our earth a safe, healthy environment for the future countering arguments by pessimists that "Climate change is all cyclical. We can't do anything anyways," with "Sure we can. Although every step we take may seem small, every step towards cleaning up our act environmentally counts. And if most of us get on board we can make substantial changes. We owe that much to the next generation." That's why he is bothering. That's why he is putting his name out there; so that others who are interested and concerned will consider joining him.
This
article is dedicated to the memory of Jack's cousin, the late Robert Smith
of Buffalo, New York, a superb mentor who always has been and will
continue to be an inspiration to Jack. |
