fuel alternatives

Drivers Try Fuel Alternatives to Save Cash

By Rae Pearsons
CBN News Producer

CBN.com – (CBN News) - If you have filled up your car's gas tank recently, it was probably a painful experience. Gas prices have gone up about 20 cents a gallon in just the past three weeks.

In some parts of the country, gas is already $3 a gallon.

Analysts say at these prices, the typical American who drives an average of 15,000 miles a year is going to spend about $700 dollars more on gas over the course of a year.

That is why some drivers are turning to alternative types of fuel -- everything from chicken fat to vegetable oil.

Chicken fat contains hydrocarbons just like petroleum oil, and can be converted into fuel for a car.

The idea of using chicken fat for fuel is catching on. One school district in Florida is using a combination of chicken fat and diesel fuel to power its school buses.

But chickens are not the only animals that can power cars -- turkeys and pigs can too.

So can soybean oil. And a Missouri company is turning turkey parts into heating oil.

Some people are using pure vegetable oil to fuel their diesel cars. But vegetable oil costs more than diesel fuel, about $3.50 a gallon.

So some are using waste vegetable oil from restaurants, which they can usually get for free.

A word of caution, though -- vegetable oil cannot be used in a gasoline engine. It only works in cars and trucks that run on diesel fuel.

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