Letter From You to Us

Hi there,
Your adventure has brought back a memory from my days of wandering around africa in my land rover. I had run out of diesel fuel in a very remote area of what was then zaire. I filled the tank with red palm nut oil, boosted the "octane" with a bit of kerosine, and off we went! It smoked a bit but smelled better.
Enjoy your trip, enjoy your life

Hello: My name is *****. I live on the Island of Kauai, in Hawaii (very expensive). I am retired from a sugar plantation (now defunct) and have time but very little funds to pursue your vegatable oil conversion idea. We currently have no way to dispose of waste vegatable cooking oil. A friend and I have collected approximately 900 gallons of oil and are looking for the process of conversion which we know exists....

Dear VeggieVan folks;
Normally, I'm very conservative and skeptical; I tend to blow off a lot of the wild-eyed hippie types who scream about saving the Earth because they can't propose good alternatives - they only preach gloom an' doom and want to make everyone else obey laws they want passed.
Congratulations on being one of the very few environmental-consciousness- raising efforts to have truly impressed me. I was only vaguely aware that Dr. Diesel's engine would run on vegetable-based hydrocarbons, and had seen a brief piece on the news about a city bus line that was using soybean diesel fuel, but the concept of the VeggieVan really floored me....
Congrats again, and let me know when you go public and start trading on the NYSE; I'll be first in line to invest!

... I already scoured your web site, and I'm most definitely interested. Now, how do I make a Green Grease Machine for myself? I'm frustrated by the fact that the majority of the population seems blind to the environmental problems that we face, and aren't willing to do much of anything to improve things. So, what do I do? Tell me, tell me, tell me. :)

I'm trying to get the issue of biodiesel started in alaska but to prove my point I need a practicle working model that works within these extreme conditions [ ie weather & terrain ] . plus start our very own biodiesel organization/club. I will first pitch this idea to the universities Environment Ed. club & anyone else who will stand still loung enough to hear about CHEAP & CLEAN fuel. Up here we have just about every kind of auto organization so why not the "canola cruisers" or the "fry-oil four-by'ers" imagine the posabilities. Do to the "terminator dust" comeing down the mountains farther each day I would like to get this prodject started befor winter gets a serious grip anchorage. [so i don't have to lay in a foot of snow making modifications on our rigs or the transterification plant. Thanks for your time eagerly awaiting schematics, blue prints, material lists, processing instructions, ect. [in other words a step by step manual of sorts on how to build and operate the transterification plant. Thanks again, and we're still waiting for your conformation on your arival to our great state and meager campus.

Just read in the Los Angeles Times about your trip in the Veggie Van and visited your web site. Your trek is a great service to the environment by making people aware there are other means than petroleum to transport us. Some alternative means of clean transportion have not gone over very well here, e.g. electric cars due to their limited range. We have made an effort to keep our area air from turning into something like Mexico City, and it is better than it was some years back. However we could clean it up better if we had more vehicles like Veggie Van on our freeways here in suburban Orange County, CA. Maybe we should try a veggieminivan for the local commute.
Keep up the good work, Joshua and Kaia.

Hello, my name is *** *****. I am intrigued by your creativity and imagination. I hope you realize the impact of your U.S. tour. Alternative fuels have been used widely throughout the world for some time. The United States has been slow to catch on to this trend as a nation. I think you have created a much needed marketing tool to highten awareness of available alternative fuels.I am proud of the work you are doing.I believe your veggievan tour has opened the eyes of many American citizens.I hope to pursue a career in international environmental law.It's people like you helping to pave the road to my future.Thank you, and I hope we will work together someday.

Re: thankgod! IT HAS LITERALLY BEEN YEARS!.....of looking for info re veg-diesel info....teased by a letter to the editor to real goods re a guy in (upstate NY?) running his volkswagen on vegetable oil....with no further info available....to the periodic captioned photos of vans that "when you stand by the exhaust pipe...it smells like a bakery!...." - and no further info! AAARRRGGGGHHH! literally primarily got on-line for access to alternative energy info (real goods great but limited transpo info -and the local rural - but lovely and quaint- library had zip...) - and with some effort, only found such technical info as to make my naive optimism and hope shudder a bit... so - yea - i found something (ie, you! - i hope) that renews my hope/faith that i can continue to move forward on my 3 year pursuit of info re this technology...realizing the challenge of confronting science..btu's...conversions...filtering..etc. hope to return to this site for further review thanks

Hello
We really enjoyed hearing about the veggie van and have had a major league brainstorm. we would like to build a similar vehicle and get this environmental awareness project to tour the country visiting schools all over. We would like you to help us build one here and we would get a corporate sponsor to pay for it, the advertising mileage that this sponsor would get will be more than worth it.
Please could you let us know the costs of supplying the various items of equipment to us here for addition onto vehicles bought in south africa. We would need to source as much as possible locally due to the poor exchange rate between SA Rand and American Dollar.

I'm a mexican mechanic engineeer student from the Hermosillo Techologic Institute and I already read about your veggievan and the biodiesel fuel; I'd like to know more about this new fuel and if it has other aplicattions, because I'm searching for a fuel to use in the Wankel engine. Waiting for your answer and appreciating your help.

Hi guys,
Thanks for the info. We're students from the University of Saint Anthony here in Iriga City Philippines. Your excerpt of your thesis is our main source of info for our experiments. You see, we're surfing the Net for hours now just to beat the deadline of our teacher.

I personally cannot understand why the modern world does not make alternate energy sources and clean resources as a bigger issue. The first page of any newspaper will have super bowl pride or our infidel president's shame on the front cover. Why do so many Americans and other modern cultures seem to overlook the damages that our behavior is causing our society?
I am very impressed by your accomplishments and I wish you the best of luck as the small part of the population who actually seem to care and act upon a vital need for our children.
I feel that I cannot live without a car the way that the Denver-Metro area is layed out and the way that public transportation lacks many vital features. That is why I feel that cleaner, alternate forms of energy should be developed. That is where I want to see my tax dollars invested!!
Kelly