Original: 2010 Posts : We Use Veg E Oil
Dear Palm Springs Residents and Visitors:
If you are looking for great local restaurants that are doing something for the environment, please consider:
- Las Casuelas (www.lascasuelas.com)
- El Mirasol (http://elmirasolcocinamexicana.menutoeat.com)
- El Taco Asado, Tlaquepaque (www.yelp.com/biz/taqueria-tlaquepaque-palm-springs)
- Noura Café (www.yelp.com/biz/eat-a-pita-palm-springs#query:noura café)
We love their food, but also the fact that they are helping us recycle their used vegetable oil!
If you haven’t met Thrasher or JR yet, they are the Rally Race inspired ’85 and ’87 Mercedes 300 Turbo Diesels that we have converted to run on waste vegetable oil (WVO) to run around town. You may have noticed the Environmental Race Series logos, the big Hot Purple Energy E’s, or the faint smell of French fries as we drive by. (Yes we know it CAN make you hungry!)
The truth about the diesel engine is that Rudolf Diesel designed it to run on peanut oil, so basically we re-converted the cars to run on their fuel of choice. If you want to look into it we have two veggie mechanics and supply houses we will happily refer you too. Veggiebenz (www.veggiebenz.com) and Plant Drive (www.plantdrive.com) helped us do our conversions on the 300’s as well as our solar installation box truck, and have already helped those that we have recommended. While different cars and trucks have slightly different needs, we see getting a diesel to run on WTO costs about $1000-$1500 installed.
Basically, you will want to add an additional fuel pump and filter to your car. This is simply to aid in pumping the thicker veggie oil as well as filtering out any remaining waste debris. The other addition you may consider are adding heat coils to your fuel lines to warm the oil to decrease the viscosity before it hits the injectors.
On hot days we turn these elements off, but on cold mornings here in the desert. They help. A lot!
While there are more and more options for lessoning fossil fuel consumption when driving, we prefer the old Mercedes to just about anything on the road. We spend a lot of time advocating for alternative fuels in cars and housed, and will do whatever we can to help others find their way. These cars are great to drive and last and last. But the best part is veggie oil is carbon neutral when it burns and we are preventing the oil from going to waste.
While there is a lot of emphases on new lower emission and electric cars, something to consider is that revitalizing an older car prevents a great deal of energy and materials from being expended on manufacturing a new one. Old cars aren’t for everyone, but should you be considered as a viable alternative to buying new, think about a veggie diesel.
Ride on JR and Thrasher…ride on….!
PS: If you need some Veg-E-Oil (WTO) while in Palm Springs just give us a call!
Hot Purple Energy | www.hotpurpleenergy.com
760-531-4022
Serving The Coachella Valley