Paladin

Issue date: 9/4/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Steven Piper [Click to enlarge]

"Sometimes it can have a little smell, so Mrs. Bertein makes fun of it. When the car drives off, she says 'there go my french-fries," Romain Bertein, LBCC head of Culinary Arts and Baking Department, said of his two environmentally friendly biodiesel consuming Mercedes.

 The two Mercedes are a 1987 300 SDL six cylinder diesel and a 1984 300 Turbo Diesel. Independent Cars in the City of Orange converted both cars for about $900.

With a Lovecraft Biofuels conversion kit underneath the hood, Bertein is able to mix any proportion of vegetable oil and diesel in his single tank Mercedes.

"It is very positive.  We use 70 percent vegetable oil and 30 percent diesel. However you are able to run (the car) on 100 percent vegetable oil," Bertein said.

According to the Energy Protection Agency website, automobiles are not approved to operate on 100 percent vegetable oil.

Student and cafeteria worker Michael Taylor said, "It's really cool to get the oil through work and it is great for saving money and saving the environment."

Bertein has also realized the obvious benefits of driving a biodiesel.

"You have less fumes than pure diesel, it is inexpensive and it also saves the environment," Bertein said.

When talking about the performance of the oil driven car, Bertein said, "I have better mileage and better pick-up and it is more efficient. It is really saving my pocket book," Bertein said.

A fill up with the 70-30 fuel ratio costs about $20 to $25, according to Bertein. He said he collects his untaxed oil from both the LAC's and the PCC's cafeterias and various restaurants with the help of David Corral, LBCC's manager of Aramark.

With all the apparent benefits of this readily available fuel, there are tax issues that have caused concerns among biodiesel users. Even though biofuels are a renewable energy source, the law maintains that anyone utilizing the state's roads and highways must pay a tax, regardless of the fuel source.

Rudolf Diesel demonstrated his engine at the 1900 World Fair in Paris, where it ran on peanut oil.

Diesel said, "The use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today, but such oils may become, in the course of time, as important as petroleum and the coal-tar products of the present time."

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