Is there Kentucky Fried Fuel in your Future?

Posted by admin as conspiracy theory

Is there Kentucky Fried Fuel in your Future?

By Diane Nassy

Thanks to a weird marriage between the National Renderers
Association, the people who turn animal fat into useful
products, and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of
Air Quality Planning and Standards , there is a possibility that
your car could be burning chicken or other animal fat in the
next few years.

That’s because these two agencies have been working together to
advance the development of petroleum-based fuel alternatives
known as “biofuels”. According to a jointly issued report,
yellow grease, lard, recycled cooking fat, and other
animal-derived products have been shown in tests to perform as
an acceptable alternative to fossil fuels.

So far the fatty fuels have been tested in boilers, trucks,
busses, and some automobiles. The results have been pretty
impressive. In fact, the EPA has issued guidelines for companies
who want to convert to biofuel to run their factories, power
generating plants, and diesel engines. The guidelines spell out
what fuels can be replaced by biofuels and what incentives the
government is offering to those who take the leap. You can read
the guidelines here at the EPA site
(http://www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/t3ed.html).

None of this alternative fuel talk has escaped the attention of
the automobile manufacturers, big oil companies, or
environmental groups. Everyone is looking at the possibilities
in order to find a way to make some money when all is said and
done.

Some people are doing more than looking, however. One school
district in Georgia is running their school busses on chicken
fat, and some trucking companies are converting their diesel
engine to burn vegetable oil. It all seems to be working out
quite well. Of course, there will probably be a vegetable
shortage next, and we’ll see Crisco hitting $5.00 per tub!

Although it’s not likely that your next off-the-lot car will
have “finger licking good” exhaust fumes, there is a great need
to develop fossil fuel alternatives. Researchers aren’t just
working with animal renderings and vegetable oil either.
Experimental research is being conducted with hay and
agricultural wastes as well. Even chicken “droppings” are
getting burned.

Some companies are developing conversion kits that will let
ordinary gasoline engines run on animal fat or vegetable oil.
The average cost for a conversion kit runs around $1,000, but
the savings can add up pretty quickly when you consider that
many restaurants are giving away their used fry grease for free.

The main problem is finding ways to produce good mileage results
and developing engines that are able to handle the effects of
non-petroleum fuels. These aren’t overwhelming problems, but
they still must be addressed before biofuels become mainstream.
And for the conspiracy theory fans among us, there is always the
possibility that “big oil” will do everything it can to stop
biofuels from replacing their coveted black gold.

While having to scrounge around for buckets of fat, or scraping
road kill from the Interstate might slow down your travel plans,
there will come a time when biofuels will be flowing from your
neighborhood service stations as freely as grease from a fried
chicken platter