Sounds icky? Sounds yucky? Sounds just too weird?

It may be so but there are some environment advocates who are already looking at used cooking oil from restaurants as a fuel source for vehicles. After all, it is no secret that the world’s fossil fuel sources are slowly depleting.

The group of advocates seems to have already done experiments and see if such worked and I guess it did. In fact, aside from used cooking oil, these environmentalists are also now trying out vegetable oil to serve as fuel. And now only are these unconventional fuel being tested on vehicles but they are also being tested on houses’ heating systems.

One very concrete example that these “fuels” do work is the fact that Antony Berretti was able to drive through Europe in his Fiat van. And all he was using for fuel was the used vegetable oil that he was able to get from restaurants he passed on his journey.

[Via Yahoo! News]

[Image from About: Greek Food]

Post from: Blisstree

Used Cooking Oil To Power Your Car

Some final shout-outs before I call it a night…

Props to Shea Gunther for putting this whole thing together. You rock, dude!

To all of my fellow blogathon’rs – Thanks, folks. This was my first blogathon and having all of you in the back channel chatroom to chat with was a blessing.

A shout-out to my charity, the Light Up the World Foundation. I love what this organization does and I invite my readers to make a contribution to them if they have the means to do so.

Thanks to Randy of CFLBulbs.com for your pledge.

And finally, thanks to my lovely wife and my lovely daughter, for supporting me in my crazy blogging endeavours. I love you, both.

Good night, everyone and namaste.

Post from: Blisstree

GB#24 – That’s It, I’m Done!

So…if you’re an insomniac who was dreading the end of the our little soiree, fear not. Just head on over to Aaron’s place and he’ll keep you informed on all things green and peak oil through the long dark hours.

Powering Down website.

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GB#23 – Aaron’s Late But He Made It!

Of course you want to ensure that there isn’t any shade hitting your panels, especially during your peak hours. Shading on just a few cells within a panel can reduce that panel’s output by up to half.

Jason points to advice provided by Matthew McGlynn on his debris.com blog in regards to keeping your panels clean…

Sun Power has done extensive research and has consistently seen that clean panels produce 8% more than those panels that have accumulated dust from the atmosphere. For this reason, we suggest that you wash down your panels at the beginning of the summer. This is as simple as hosing them down with plain water. Ours were indeed covered with grime. Simply hosing them off didn’t do the job, either; I made a pass with a clean scrub brush to knock off the grit.

Here’s that particular post and then I highly recommend you take a wander over the rest of SolarDweller as well. Good stuff to be had and as Jason says about solar, it’s not just for satellites anymore.

Post from: Blisstree

GB#22 – Keep Your Panels Clean Kids!

Here’s the full list courtesy of James at the Alternative Energy Blog, compiled from NREL info…

1. Austin Energy – areas served include Austin, Texas
Wind Power, Land Fill Gas, Small Hydro – 334 MWh/year

2. Portland General Electric (PGE) – areas served include Portland, Oregon
Geothermal, Wind Power, Small Hydro – 262 MWh/year

3. PacifiCorp – includes Pacific Power and Utah Power
areas served include Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, California, Utah, Idaho
Wind Power, Biomass, Solar Energy – 191 MWh/year

4. Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD)
Landfill Gas, Wind Power, Small Hydro, Solar Energy – 176 MWh/year

5. Xcel Energy -
areas served include: Denver,Colorado; Elkhart, Kansas; Wakefield, Michigan; Saint Paul, Minnesota; Roswell, New Mexico; Fargo, North Dakota; Boise City, Idaho; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Amarillo, Texas; Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Wind Power – 137 MWh/year

6. National Grid – areas served include New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Nantucket
Biomass, Wind Power, Small Hydro, Solar Energy – 88 MWh/year

7. Los Angeles Department of Power and Water (LADPW)
Wind Power, Landfill Gas – 75 MWh/year

8. OG&E Electric Services – area served Oklahoma
Wind Power – 56 MWh/year

9. Puget Sound Energy (PSE) – area served Washington state
Wind Power, Solar Energy, Biogas – 46 MWh/year

10. We Energies – areas served include Wisconsin and Michigan
Landfill Gas, Wind Power, Small Hydro – 40 MWh/year

Check out James’ post at Alternative Energy Blog for more details.

Post from: Blisstree

GB#21 – America’s Top 10 Green Utilities

SOLARCHOICE makes solar electricity affordable today by connecting customers that want to produce solar electricity with other customers that want to support the development of renewable energy by paying a small premium on their utility bill. Customers can actively promote the development of local renewable energy in their communities by becoming either SOLARCHOICE producers or SOLARCHOICE purchasers.

SOLARCHOICE is unique in that it encourages the installation of local, clean, renewable energy by relying on free-market supply and demand principles rather than rebates, tax incentives, or other government subsidies. This allows our customers to choose whether or not they want to support renewable energy development in their community. Your support of SOLARCHOICE is essentially a vote for renewable energy.

This is the first time that I’ve seen program like this one. Is anyone know of similar programs in their region?

The SolarChoice webpage at Owatonna Public Utilities.

[via Green Power Network News]

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GB#20 – Minnesota Utilities Offer SolarChoice

Among its features, you’ll find an auto scanning FM radio, ability to recharge standard Nokia, Ericsson and Motorola cell phones and the ability to recharge digital cameras that accept 6V AC.

5 minutes of winding provides of 2.5 hours of flashlight illumination and 30 minutes of crank will juice a phone for 6 hours of standby or 10-15 minutes of talk time.

They’re available in the UK from IWantOneofThose.com for £14.95 or about $24 US. Here’s the product page.

[via Treehugger]

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GB#19 – The Personal Powerstation

By entering your zip code and then answering a few questions, the software will calculate the potential savings available to you based on making some efficiency improvements. It will also provide possible upgrade paths, cost calculations, and ROI figures for your situation.

Check it out at the Online Home Energy Saver.

[via GroovyGreen]

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GB#18 – Web Based DIY Energy Audits

The solar array consists of 5,565 high efficiency solar modules and covers an area of 150,000 square feet. It’s been situated in a flood plain, which will help make use of otherwise unusable land.

The system also features PowerTracker technology from the PowerLight Corporation, which tracks the sun across the sky and aligns the panels to maximize energy generation. All told, it’ll generate the equivalent juice needed to power 1,200 homes.

As Jeff says at sustainablog…”They’re solar and they have wine grapes in the school logo… now that’s a college!”

Press release at Renewable Energy Access.

Napa Valley College website.

PowerLight Corp website.

[via sustainablog]

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GB#17 – Napa Valley College Goes Sunny

The little one is being put to bed and the big girls are about to go out dancing, so I’m going to have a nice quiet spell to take on the final stretch here. Time to put on some Miles Davis or maybe John Coltrane and get her done.

Thanks to everyone who’s stopped by so far today and a big thanks to my fellow blogathoner’s.

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GB#16 – Blogathon Update