Invention Awards: A Generator That Runs on Kitchen Grease

I say this with all respect for the author of the article, and Mr. Peret, to wit: Duuuuuuuuuuuhh.

Once again, it takes a working stiff to point out the amazingly obvious.

Good work, Jim. No, sincerely, good work.

1000 dollar savings a month? That'll only pay for itself after 25 years! Longer if we figure in maintenance.

As for greening things up, I don't know, is there less carbon emissions involved if the power is produced at a coal plant?

Seems to me that a clearer green alternative is still burning up grease in a modified diesel car (since that represents fuel that would be burned anyway) or (this is really is a guess) feeding it to livestock instead of the fish oil which contributes to depleting our taxed oceans.

This is a wonderful opinion. The things mentioned are unanimous and needs to be appreciated by everyone.

mark456

adult

The $300,000 price tag was to build the prototype, if and hopefully when it is massed produced you could see it sell for a tenth or less than the original cost. Also considering coal power is the MOST polluting power source we have it stands to reason that it would pollute less. Not to mention the value of not being dependent on a central power grid. We need more inventors and innovators like Mr. Peret.

It took him $300k to buy a diesel generator? And he gets an award for it?

Ridiculous! Any diesel engine will run directly off of vegetable oil, provided two conditions are met: (1) filter the oil through a micron filter and (2) it is preheated to 150F first.

(1) is a real no brainier, you can set it up for about $20.
(2) is easy seeing how the generator creates waste heat as it runs - you just have to start up with regular diesel to warm things up and use a heat exchanger (read copper tube coil), or have a fish tank heater or something heat the oil.

That cost $300k to develop? What a waste!

Noting that this is the price of the prototype is a good point.

as for this though:

Also considering coal power is the MOST polluting power source we have it stands to reason that it would pollute less.

I don't know that this is clearly the case. Coal power may be the most polluting power source for mass production of power, but does that hold true when compared to small scale diesel engines? I would assume that mass production generally is more efficient (and potentially less polluting) than small scale power production.

This is great for showing technology and how ingenious the mind can be, but is this really an economical piece of equipment?

http://www.opednews.com/author/author37016.html