RUNNING ON FRENCH FRIES
Courtesy of Kaia and Joshua Tickell
RUNNING ON FRENCH FRIES
Courtesy of Kaia and Joshua Tickell
The Veggie Van, a van that runs on reprocessed vegetable oil from kitchens that provide your french fries, was in Salt Lake City, August 17-18, 1997. Two newly graduated (and married) specialists in "Sustainable Living" from New College in Sarasota, Florida are touring the U.S. with their Veggie Van. "We want to make people more aware of what can be done to decrease our reliance on foreign oil imports." This couple are typical of many of America's younger generation who know that there is a big problem that must be solved by their generation. We discussed how the older generation has enjoyed a high-energy standard of living and has polluted the planet and left a huge debt to be paid off by the younger generation. Kaia and Joshua Tickell are bright, informed, and dedicated members of that younger generation and they plan to do something about it.
The Veggie Van is equipped with a diesel engine that runs on BIODIESEL, which they make from left-over kitchen oils. In addition, the van has two solar panels to furnish electricity. The Tickells make their Biodiesel with equipment in a towed trailer. The used fry oil is filtered and then treated to provide esters and glycerine. The glycerine can be used for making soap and the esters are the biodiesel that drive their van.
[Picture of the authors standing along-side their great-looking van.]
The Veggie Van and the Green Grease Machine are in the process of touring with stops at New Orleans, LA; Lexington, KY; Richmond, VA; Albany, NY; Burlington, VT; Minneapolis, MN, Jefferson City, MO; Denver, CO; Salt Lake City, UT; Phoenix, AZ; Los Angeles, CA; San Francisco, CA; and Portland, OR. "By doing this project, we hope to inspire a lot of people to take action toward saving our environment", says Kaia Tickell. They were enthusiastic about a possible future trip to show off an "On-Board Battery Charger".
NEN salutes Kaia and Joshua Tickell. With this type of dedication from their generation, our country will be in good hands.
www.padrak.com/ine/NEN_5_5_5.html
Sept. 10, 1997.