Subscribe to Outside Magazine
advertisement
Survival Guru

Today's Question
What should you do if you run into a cougar in the backcountry? answer

What is the number one backcountry skill people should learn? answer

Eco Adventurer

Today's Question
What are the five best environmental movies of all time? answer

What are the greenest colleges? answer

Videos Ask Dave
  • What kind of dog will make me look manlier? answer
  • Is there a sport that safely combines my twin passions for guns and kayaks? answer
  • How come most of the world's cultures enjoy eating goat, but Americans don't? answer

Online Favorites

Special Issues

Photo Galleries
save this page print this page email this page
  • share this page

Outside Online

Great Green Fuels

Kathy NiKeefe's VW Golf runs on recycled vegetable oil. (Darius Himes)
In Outside's September feature "Grease is the Word," we profile Charris Ford, a 33-year-old fuel pioneer from Telluride, Colorado, bent on powering the world's diesel engines on biodiesel, a concoction of vegetable oil, alcohol, and lye. While the gospel of biodiesel is spreading to cities across the nation (like Berkeley and Breckenridge, where fleets of biodiesel buses are used for public transportation), there are even more groundbreaking innovations in alternative auto fuels that you should know about.

Little-known facts:
  • It's possible to power a modified diesel engine with pure, recycled vegetable oil.
  • Many American-made vehicles (from companies like GMC, Ford, and Dodge) have flex-fuel engines, designed to run on ethanol.
  • A handful of hydrogen-fuel cell vehicles are already on the road in Los Angeles and Chicago—and they produce zero emissions.
  • Hybrid cars like the Honda Insight get superior gas mileage— up to 68 mpg.
Want to find out more? Check out our green fuel guide: