Sick of high fuel costs? Sickened by the damage transportation is doing to our environment? In theory biofuels — ethanol, biodiesel, etc. — might provide relief on both these fronts. But theory aside, is it really practical? For four years Blake O'Brien ran his 1985 diesel Mercedes Benz "beater" (his description) on WVO — Waste Vegetable Oil — he scavenged from a nearby Vietnamese eatery. In this telephone conversation O'Brien lays out the pros and cons of of pollution-free, cost-free motoring.
(Warning! the first 60 seconds of our conversation are a bit scratchy. It then settles down. Bear with us.)