INDEPENDENCE FROM...PETROL

- Kai Sanson, Tasty Interview

What could be Tastier than declaring your independence from the gas pump?  What about a truck that runs on recycled oil … vegetable oil, at that!  We met up with Kai Sanson, who’s been driving his “Veg Truck” for over 15,000 miles.

 
Tastybaby:

Kai, tell us about your car, how it runs, why it’s cool and why it’s Tasty…

 Well, I have a 1997 GMC diesel truck and I converted it to run on vegetable oil.  The original diesel engine was designed way back I think in the early 1900’s to run on peanut oil when it first debuted at a trade show in Germany.  Since then the engine hasn’t changed much in its components.

Tastybaby:

What do you need to do to the truck to make it run on oil?

You have to install a system that basically heats the oil up to a temperature where it’s combustible.  It’s not a major overhaul.  There are plenty of guys that are doing some great filtration systems on trucks or cars:  you can use Volkswagon TDI’s or Mercedes Diesels.  It has to be a diesel engine that allows them to run on recycled-waste vegetable oil.

Tastybaby:

So you’re not going to the supermarket and buying vegetable oil?

No, you can do that and toss it right in your vegetable oil tank but the better way to do it is to run it on recycled filtered vegetable oil.

I’m working with a company called VegEnergy Group. And we’re working to get restaurants on board so we can come and pick-up their waste vegetable oil –  the oil they use in their fryer.  They usually toss it behind the restaurant in a barrel and we go back there, collect it, filter it and use it as alternative fuel in people’s cars.

Tastybaby:

If you weren’t picking up their vegetable oil, what would happen to it?

Right now, they pay to have it taken away, so generally it gets shipped overseas to Asia where it’s used to make soaps.  So right there you’re utilizing extra resources for that.

Tastybaby:

So you’re using oil to ship oil to a country that then is going to use more oil to change it into another product then use it more oil to ship it back to consumers.  It makes a whole lot of sense. And by the way, do I want my soap made out of oil that fried French fries?

That’s what’s happening and people aren’t really aware of it. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it is utilizing a lot of resources.  Part of this whole movement is bringing things more to the community level. How many restaurants are we surrounded by in Malibu and Santa Monica? There’s probably 10 restaurants every few blocks. We’re utilizing the oil which is a by-product of those restaurants as an alternative fuel. Part of that is also about educating the restaurants to use the better oil.

Tastybaby:

What do you mean by better oil?

In the past, restaurants have used hydrogenated oil which has trans-fats. KFC and McDonalds were in big lawsuits because people finally realized how unhealthy this oil really is and how much it’s affecting obesity in the United States. People are eating their fried chicken and French fries all the time and that oil in its cold state is a solid.  A pure oil like olive oil or canola oil stays liquid, and has zero trans fats.  Now, because of the lawsuits that have gone on, restaurants have some incentive to change the oil they use, so it’s healthier for the public.

Tastybaby:

So there’s nutritional and environmental impacts of running a car on veg oil.

Exactly. When you think that a lot of kids meals are fried in the old hydrogenated oil which I cannot use in my car because it’s a solid.  When you try to suck it through the filter, it clogs into this massive mess of goop, basically, and that’s what it’s doing to your arteries.  The visual is incredible and I wish more people would see it.  It was pretty cool to see that and then to be able to run my truck on the vegetable oil.

After you’ve been driving around town and you’re running on veg, you can smell wontons or tempura in your car oil.  The exhaust smells like a fryer – it’s not bad, but you can definitely tell.  People will be like “What’s that smell? I’m getting hungry!” 

Tastybaby:

What made you made convert the truck in the first place?

Pretty much just to make a statement.  This isn’t for everyone because it takes an extra effort.  The statement is that there are alternatives that can not only benefit the person driving the car, but can also benefit and help initiate changes in the community.  To me, that’s the most important part of it – educating the restaurants about what kind of oil they’re using and making consumers aware that we’ve been eating this stuff that’s really unhealthy so they’ll demand better oil. 

Tastybaby:

What’s the financial impact of converting your truck and then filling it up the way you do.

The conversion is about $2,000-3,000 depending on the type of conversion. The company I’m working with, VegEnergy Group is selling veg oil it at about $1.88 a gallon. 

Tastybaby:

You’re a surfer.  Is your commitment to the environment linked to surfing in some way?

Yeah, definitely, I mean, surfers are always out in the elements. We value clean water and those days after it rains and all the oils and pollutants go down the drains, you can’t surf.  People still do, but you shouldn’t. Surfers in general definitely have been leaders in environmental awareness and fighting for the environment so yes, they come hand in hand.   

Check out what else Kai is doing for our environment. 
http://www.solikai.com/

Or For more on the inspiration behind the Veg Truck check out http://www.solikai.com/en/blog/vegtruck.shtml

About the truck

Everything pretty much happens back in the bed of the truck.  I have a suction hose with a filter on it.  It’s a preliminary filter so when you’re collecting the oil (whether it’s for fueling up from filtered oil or gathering it from a restaurant) it starts  to be filtered here (insert image).

My system filters it before it even gets into the tank. So if you don’t have this external system, you need to be putting filtered oil into your tank.

I have two tanks: I have the diesel tank,  and I have the pure oil tank in the back of the bed. And guys are doing some really nice tanks now that are full of steel, look really nice and really good.

Then from the tank, it hits the engine, and gets heated up to 250 degrees. It runs just like you’re running on diesel, even a little bit smoother actually, and it has a little bit more pickup.  When you’re running on Veg it’s got a nice pickup right out of the gate.  It’s fun!

My truck is a big truck, but there are other options for people like the Mercedes diesels and ones that are a little bit newer that can be converted.  Guys have some good systems on the Volkswagon TDI’s. You can use Suburbans.  There aren’t too many SUV’s, but the Volkswagon is a really good way to go for gas mileage and efficiency, but the diesel ones are hard to find.  In the next few years, automakers are going to be making a lot more diesels and I’m sure they’ll be able to run on veg. It’ll be pretty cool to see what happens!

Veg power!