Vegmobile

Lake Worth wants to be "green." It is the desire of this Commission and the Mayor to do as much as possible to be environmentally conscientious. We constantly talk about rain barrels, solar panels and all sorts of "green" stuff. Now we learn that we have a "green" truck and we have had it since 2008. Is Lake Worth ahead of its time?

"Green" is a 1993 Diesel truck that has been converted to run on vegetable oil. The truck moves dumpsters throughout Lake Worth and has been named the "Vegmobile." Joe Kroll, Public Services Director, says that the price of the conversion kit, $1,800, has now paid for itself.

Although this alternative fuel may be cheap and clean, there simply isn't enough of it to make a big dent in our gas consumption.

What about the extra staff time collecting the used vegetable oil all over PB County, carrying it on a trailer, straining it, and then distributing it to the Vegmobile? Is this an efficient green alternative for a stop and go vehicle or is this just a "greenie" thing to do?

ehow.com says,
The savings over conventional fuel is great enough to compensate for the additional time spent filtering the fuel and fetching it from restaurants. You also are burning a "greener" fuel, as the fuel burns cleaner and is much cleaner to produce. Fewer chemicals are used to process it and there is no drilling involved which also can harm the environment.

The Basics, Fill your tank with vegetable oil.

Car Talk, Running your car on vegetable oil.