Stripped across the front of the hand-painted blue bus is its moniker — Li’l Grease Beast. Stickers touting environmental consciousness and world peace are plastered on windows and bumpers.
But the real uniqueness of the vehicle lies not in its paint job, but in its fuel system.
The Lil’ Grease Beast is so named because it runs on discarded cooking oil, usually old peanut oil taken from grease dumpsters out back of Chinese restaurants.
Becky Johnson, an illustrator who recently graduated from Syracuse University, converted the vehicle to run on grease and plans to tour the country this summer to raise awareness as part of her Clear Visions Project, an organization she started with her mother.
She told several groups of students at The O’Neal School on Wednesday, the first of several Moore County stops, about how the van runs on grease without any conversions to the engine.
A “fuel” kit installed in the back of the van enables Johnson to siphon discarded cooking oil from restaurants, filter it if necessary and heat it so it can be used to power the engine. The Lil’ Grease Beast is equipped with a 100-gallon grease tank, which got Johnson and her two friends from Hartford, Conn. to Washington, D.C.
Johnson explained to the students how the diesel engine was invented in the 1890s to run on peanut oil.
“We’re trying to take it back to that,” she said, adding that cooking oils that contain higher levels of animal fat are undesirable. “I never thought I’d become a grease connoisseur, but when you find some real good grease it looks like pure maple syrup.”
Johnson said she’s had some interesting conversations with restaurant owners, but once they find out they can get rid of the old grease for free, they usually don’t mind. Restaurants usually have to pay to have their old grease discarded.
“Sometimes there’s a language barrier with Asian restaurants, but once we get the idea across they’re usually pretty happy,” she said. “We’re doing them a favor and we get fuel for free.”
The diesel engine’s emissions are significantly reduced when it’s switched to run on grease, Johnson said.
“Sulfur emissions are totally eliminated and the rest are significantly reduced,” she said. “Carbon dioxide is reduced by 26 percent, for example. Basically, it’s a lot better for the environment.”
Dylan Warner is one of the three people traveling with the bus on its current tour. A student at the University of New Hampshire, Warner said he’s known Johnson since high school and wanted to help out for a semester. He said making stops at schools like O’Neal is always rewarding.
“The little kids are always great because they’re always interested no matter where they come from,” Warner said.
Widespread traveling leads to quite a few impromptu presentations, Warner said.
“We find that we do more presentations randomly,” he said, adding that rest stops are often the site for a brief lesson. “We connect with a lot of people on that level.”
Warner said his personal motivation for riding the Lil’ Grease Beast is mostly political but said the real purpose of the vehicle is environmental.
“We’re just trying to show people that this is one alternative,” he said.
One of the advantages is that it requires only a diesel engine and minor modifications to the vehicle’s fuel system.
“It takes only a weekend to install, even for someone who’s not mechanically inclined,” Warner said. “If someone else installs it it’s about $800 so it’s pretty affordable.”
Deb Branson, a science teacher at The O’Neal School, contacted Johnson and help set up enough stops to make the Lil’ Grease Beast’s trip to Moore County worthwhile.
Branson is one of the Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC) sponsors at The O’Neal School. She said the SEAC chapter at O’Neal focuses mostly on things like recycling and environmental awareness.
“I teach environmental science and that’s what my degree is in as well,” she said. “So it’s something that I’m real excited about, having people learn about alternate methods of power and energy.
“Especially right now. It’s becoming a necessity because it’s so expensive and we’re depending on other countries. So I thought it was a good opportunity to have someone using an alternative fuel like biodiesel come here so they could learn more about it.”
Some of the Lil’ Grease Beast’s other stops for the day included visits to the Sandhills Community College automotive school, the Boys and Girls Club and downtown Southern Pines.
More information about The Lil’ Grease Beast and the Clear Visions Project is available online at www.clearvisionsproject.org.
