'FAT-FINDING MISSION' IN FRYBRID CARS

+ Click to Enlarge GREASE TO GREECE: A convoy of vehicles in central Athens after driving 3750km from London on used cooking oil donated by restaurants along the way. Image: AFP

August 28, 2008

A group of British "greasers" have completed a 3750km "Grease to Greece" expedition to raise awareness of cars powered by vegetable oil.

Some of the nine cars were converted to run on purified vegetable oil while others had standard engines using biodiesel brewed overnight in a "fuel pod" stored in a van accompanying the expedition.

The expedition's frybrid cars ran on used frying oil donated by restaurants and cafes along the route instead of filling up at petrol stations.

Expedition leader Andy Pag said: "A lot of people don't realise that any diesel engine will run on properly refined biodiesel.

Pag, a webcasting specialist and trained engineer, said he got the idea on a road trip from London to Cape Town with his wife in 2005.

He said: "We wanted to see if it's possible to do something with biofuel. We had a lot of breakdowns en route but we managed to fix everything."

The expedition started from London on August 16 and went through France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Albania to arrive in Athens on August 27.

Pag said that on one occasion when the convoy was pulled over by German traffic police its media clippings proved more valuable than passports.

Creating fuel molecules

In 2007 he led in expedition to Timbuktu in a truck powered by chocolate soya oil – and his next project will be a round-the-world drive using cars running on cooking oil and a small plane aviation fuel made from plastic bags.

"It's quite geeky," he said. "Essentially, it's like taking the molecules apart and building a new jigsaw with them to create fuel molecules." - AFP