Free Fuel from Waste

by Maryevelyn Jones

Fayetteville Free Weekly

2003?

Originally from Minnesota, Jim Quire and Pogo Noah were in California when they got sick of all the things wrong with fossil fuels and converted Noah’s 1967 full sized diesel fueled bus to run on waste vegetable oil (WVO). Since then, they have traveled approximately 2000 miles stopping at restaurants and asking for leftover fryer grease.

When Quire and Noah pull off the interstate they bicycle to a restaurant and ask permission. Just taking WVO is illegal. At corporate places such as McDonalds the managers usually say “no” simply because it’s not part of company policy. However, independent restaurant owners ordinarily pay for their leftover grease to be hauled away. These restaurant owners usually give their grease away to save money. Noah said he uses extra care not to spill any grease or leave messes behind. He wants restaurant owners to maintain their generosity to future WVO vehicle drivers.

Lately, Quire and Noah have been in Winslow with their high school friend Matt Lodge. Lodge spent the summer living on his parents’ Ozark Soap farm while converting his full sized bus to run on WVO too. Lodge is now the proud owner of Bio Bus #3.

Each bus holds two fuel tanks and an alternating valve. Lodge starts his bus with fuel from the diesel tank. Engine coolant then flows around the WVO tank. After 15-20 minutes of heating, the oil thins and can flow to the engine. Lodge then switches the valve to take fuel from the newly added WVO tank. Quire and Noah use hot water through a coil inside the WVO tank of Bio Bus #2 and then switch the valve.

“You can’t dump French Fries into your engine,” Noah said. The leftover grease has to be filtered well, and the filters have to be replaced often. The group is constantly improving their filtering methods.

I sniffed the exhaust fumes from Lodge’s Bio Bus #3, and it did smell just like restaurant grease. Noah mentioned that grease from a Thai place made him quite hungry.

Now that Lodge’s conversion is complete the Bio Bus Group is leaving town to go on a We the People tour. If you want to find out more about Bio Bus #1 or the maiden voyage of Lodge’s bus go to www.biobusgroup.org