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Grease Guzzlers

Five decades later, it’s cool to be a “greaser” again. Only this time, the “grease” on your favorite gear-heads’ hands doesn’t come from a can of motor oil. This grease comes straight out of the kitchen.

That’s right, researchers have figured out a way to make cars run on used vegetable oil – the stuff we use to fry up potatoes, tortillas and egg rolls. Mix it with a little diesel and you get “greasel,” a cleaner burning fuel that works just as well as the stuff we make using the increasingly out-of-style (and much more expensive) foreign oil.

In 2006, foreign oil dependency is out. Alternative fuels are in. And greasel – which also happens to be free – is starting to catch on amid a small but emerging group of people who’d like to save money and do the right thing.

For an average $900 you can convert your diesel-powered car or truck to a greasel-powered vehicle that costs nothing to fill up. Restaurants are happy to give away the used cooking oil, which provides the same performance and mileage as diesel.

What it doesn’t provide is the same level of carbon dioxide emissions, a major benefit at a time when pressure is mounting to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.

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To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to: www.environmentalhealthnews.org, www.ourstolenfuture.org, or www.healthandenvironment.org