Green truck becomes even 'greener'
Restaurant owner saves nearly $90 a week using recycled restaurant oil to fuel truck
BY FRANKLIN HAYES Gulf Breeze News franklin@gulfbreezenews.com

Franklin Hayes/Gulf Breeze News Stavros Varvouris, left, and his wife Tina fill their Ford F250 diesel engine truck with filtered, used frier oil. Varvouris said he has greatly reduced his spending on fossil fuels because he is recycling "used calamari oil" from his restaurant, Aegean Breeze.

Stavros Varvouris' F250 diesel engine truck is now green in more ways than one.

Varvouris, who co-owns Aegean Breeze with his wife Tina, recycles his used cooking oil by mixing it with diesel fuel to power his 2000 model, bluegreen, Ford truck. The restaurant owner said he saves a significant amount of cash every week by using his double filtered "fried calamari oil" instead of only filling up at the pump.

"I went from spending $100 a week [on diesel fuel] to $10 to $15 a week," he said, describing his daily trek from his home in Pensacola to his business in Gulf Breeze.

Varvouris said he's had no problems in the nine months he's used the organic alternative and said he mixes recycled vegetable oil with diesel fuel at a 50/50 ratio in the winter and uses an 80 percent diesel mixture in the summer. Varvouris said there are no other additives involved, he did not alter his truck in any way and that his vehicle actually runs smoother on the vegetable oil mixture.

"I don't see the point of gasoline cars," Varvouris said. "We need to put the farmers back to work and forget about fossil fuels."

The outspoken entrepreneur is not alone in his passion for alternative fuels, but other proponents of alternative fuels don't necessarily agree with his methods.

"I do not recommend [using restaurant oil]. It can mess your engine up," said Greg Threadgill with T-Gill Fuels, one of the area's providers of biodiesel, which is a blend of natural oils and ethanol or methanol.

According to biodiesel.org, solutions that don't meet the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards could cause engine and fuel system problems and void engine warranties.

"Biodiesel is not like restaurant grease," said Santa Rosa County Commissioner Robert "Bob" Cole.

Cole is a huge supporter of alternative fuels who helped move several county transportation systems over to biodiesel. Cole said all the county's public works vehicles operating in his district use B- 20, a 20 percent blend of biodeisel. Cole said Rural/Metro Ambulance Service uses 100 percent biodiesel and added that he would eventually like to see all county vehicles and even school buses using the alternative fuel.

"It's not a hobby anymore. It's moved from the minor leagues to the major leagues," Cole said, adding that he uses

greener'

100 percent biodiesel, or B- 100, in his 2006 Jeep Liberty whenever possible. Cole said he is also interested in building a home processor to convert vegetable oil into biodiesel.

According to a recent study funded by the United Soybean Board, America's growing biodiesel industry is expected to add $24 billion to the U.S. economy between 2005 and

2015, assuming biodiesel growth reaches 650 million gallons of annual production by

that year. The same study found that Biodiesel production should create a projected 39,102 new jobs in all sectors of the economy. Additional tax revenues from biodiesel production are expected to keep $13.6 billion in America that would otherwise be spent on foreign oil. The study found that this total impact of biodiesel on the economy includes the temporary impacts of construction, the permanent impacts of annual production and the direct value of biodiesel and co-products, namely glycerin, which can be converted into soap and other personal hygiene products.

The proposed economic benefits, coupled with the environmental advantage of lower carbon dioxide emissions are attracting big names to back the alternative fuel. Multiple Grammy award winner Merle Haggard recently performed at recent biodiesel conference in San Antonio, Tx. earlier this month. Last summer country music legend Willie Nelson celebrated the opening of his own Biodiesel plant in called Pacific Biodiesel Texas, which is a joint venture between the musician and the Hawaii based company Pacific Biodiesel.