Thursday, May 10, 2007

DieselGreen Fuels Austin, TX

On a warm, muggy Tuesday evening, we drive to Central Storage, in a slightly run-down neighborhood in East Austin. We punch in a secret code, the chain link gate creaks open, and we slowly drive past worn storage sheds and warehouses, a Metal Band practicing for an upcoming gig and a scooter repair company, to the end of the row where we find a turbodiesel Volkswagen parked next to a huge gray tank, filling up with 99% biodiesel.



This is the world of Austin's vegetable oil and B100 (100% biodiesel) distributor: DieselGreen Fuels. Started in July 2006 by Mike, Elizabeth, and Jason, this scrappy little company is doing a lot to help Austinites drive green, and keep their fuel money within the community (instead of going to OPEC countries):
  • Direct biodiesel sales at their East Side location on Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings or anytime by appointment - call (512) 24-7-FUEL
  • Waste vegetable oil (WVO) collection and processing (they have a Texas State rendering license!).
  • Sale of WVO to local biodiesel producer (who then provides their biodiesel).
  • Sale of WVO to people with converted diesel vehicles
  • WVO conversions of diesel engines
  • Educational outreach to the community
On top of all this, they're also overhauling their WVO process with a centerfuge to allow for continuous processing of their waste vegetable oil (a very ambitious move on their part).

If you're in the Austin area and are looking for some VegOil, Biodiesel, or just want to learn more about biofuels, you can contact DieselGreen Fuels via their website (DieselGreen Fuels).

We wish DieselGreen success, and hope they are around next time we swing through looking for VegOil (thanks for the fill-up, guys!).

Oh, and P.S.: they're on the lookout for interns. If you live in the Austin area and want a chance to play with waste VegOil, this might be your dream non-job!

2 comments:

  1. What is your miles peer gallon (MPG) on this vegetable oil fule?

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  2. Hi, thanks for the question - in our car we get about 25 miles per gallon on vegetable oil, which is the same as we get on petroleum diesel (and biodiesel).

    ReplyDelete