Unconventional way to burn French fry calories
Moser, Cassandra
Issue date: 2/22/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Ever wonder what happens to all that oil that the cafeteria uses to fry those fries?
As it turns out, some of it gets put to very good use. The cafeteria supplies 10 gallons of oil a week to the Menlo Middle School Veggiemight Science Club which uses it to fuel a car.
It all began with Franklin Racine-Jones, a teacher at Menlo Middle School and the husband of Kathryn Racine-Jones, director of NDNU's Center for Spirituality and Social Justice. He got this idea one day when he was riding his bike in San Francisco and met a man who had converted his car from using gas to using oil.
The car that the students use at Menlo Middle School is a 1983 Mercedes station wagon that was donated to them. The Veggiemight is an after-school science club for 6-8th graders where they learned the conversion process.
The car's conversion took several months but, Racine-Jones said, it would take a good mechanic about eight hours. The Veggiemight crew had the help of a local garage. They got the car up and running about three months ago, and it's now used as a car-pool vehicle for the teachers who commute from San Francisco to the school.
"Canola oil is the best to use in the conversion process," said Kathryn Racine-Jones. "They take the oil, filter it and then store the oil until it is ready to be used."
Then they pour it into a separate tank near the gas tank.
"There's about one-half the carbon in veggie oil emissions as gasoline emissions, according to the science teacher at Menlo who did an experiment," said Kathryn Racine-Jones.
"With the right oil, the car can get 30-40 mpg. NDNU has good oil. McDonalds, on the other hand, has bad oil. We are really blessed to have such quality oil at NDNU."
This car not only provides transportation for the commuting teachers but also is a great learning project for the students at Menlo Middle School.
"This project has taught the students a new awareness of fossil fuel consumption," she added. The students learn that gas fumes from the tail pipe project tiny pieces of matter which is then suspended in the air we breathe. These emissions are very harmful to the environment.
"It's just a neat way to recycle oil that would end up polluting the earth in some way later on," Racine-Jones said.
As it turns out, some of it gets put to very good use. The cafeteria supplies 10 gallons of oil a week to the Menlo Middle School Veggiemight Science Club which uses it to fuel a car.
It all began with Franklin Racine-Jones, a teacher at Menlo Middle School and the husband of Kathryn Racine-Jones, director of NDNU's Center for Spirituality and Social Justice. He got this idea one day when he was riding his bike in San Francisco and met a man who had converted his car from using gas to using oil.
The car that the students use at Menlo Middle School is a 1983 Mercedes station wagon that was donated to them. The Veggiemight is an after-school science club for 6-8th graders where they learned the conversion process.
The car's conversion took several months but, Racine-Jones said, it would take a good mechanic about eight hours. The Veggiemight crew had the help of a local garage. They got the car up and running about three months ago, and it's now used as a car-pool vehicle for the teachers who commute from San Francisco to the school.
"Canola oil is the best to use in the conversion process," said Kathryn Racine-Jones. "They take the oil, filter it and then store the oil until it is ready to be used."
Then they pour it into a separate tank near the gas tank.
"There's about one-half the carbon in veggie oil emissions as gasoline emissions, according to the science teacher at Menlo who did an experiment," said Kathryn Racine-Jones.
"With the right oil, the car can get 30-40 mpg. NDNU has good oil. McDonalds, on the other hand, has bad oil. We are really blessed to have such quality oil at NDNU."
This car not only provides transportation for the commuting teachers but also is a great learning project for the students at Menlo Middle School.
"This project has taught the students a new awareness of fossil fuel consumption," she added. The students learn that gas fumes from the tail pipe project tiny pieces of matter which is then suspended in the air we breathe. These emissions are very harmful to the environment.
"It's just a neat way to recycle oil that would end up polluting the earth in some way later on," Racine-Jones said.
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