Fort Wayne, Ind. -- Mayor Graham Richard today announced a new study shows a demand for housing in downtown Fort Wayne. Mayor Richard's announcement came at the beginning of a daylong event, 'Downtown Partners in Progress,' to showcase the housing study and downtown partnership development programs.
Zimmerman/Volk Associates, Inc. examined the residential market potential in the downtown core and the neighborhoods of West Central, Bloomingdale, Spy Run, southern part of Northside, and East Central.
Based on an analysis of lifestyles, consumer preferences and spending habits, the study shows that the downtown area could support up to 387 new market- rate housing units and 127 affordable housing units per year. The highest demand for downtown housing comes from young singles, couples without children, empty nesters and retirees, and a range of non-traditional families.
"There is action in downtown Fort Wayne. Downtown housing options are a key next step in our efforts to revitalize downtown," said Mayor Richard. "We have positioned ourselves for growth and development. Investors and developers are looking to downtown because of excellent housing, job creation, business investment, and retail opportunities."
In addition, 'Partners in Progress' will feature a discussion by Gianni Longo regarding the implementation of the BlueprintPlus downtown plan. Another session will examine programs that have been created to assist the private development community. This session will bring together development professionals and community leaders for a working session geared toward sparking residential and commercial development downtown.
Downtown Partnership Development Programs
Community Revitalization Enhancement District
* This designation allows for a 25% investment tax credit for qualified investment that occurs downtown. The designation also allows the City to fund infrastructure improvements through the captured increased sales and income tax dollars generated by new investment downtown.
New Markets Tax Credit
* Downtown features several new markets tax credit census tracts. The credit assists investors with improved interest rates and lower equity requirements.
Tax Increment Financing/Tax Abatement
* The City works with investors to find the best combination for funding eligible public infrastructure improvements required for a project. Tax abatements are possible for real property improvements and personal property, including technology and information systems.
Saturday, August 20, 8:30am to noon. 334 E. Berry St.
RESTORE rather than replace those great wood windows! Ron Zmyslo from Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana will be conducting a workshop on the restoration of wood windows at the McCulloch-Weatherhogg house at 334 E. Berry St. Call ARCH at 260-426-5117 to reserve a space. Cost is $10.
3rd Saturday of the Month
7/16, 8/20, 9/17, 10/15
220 Pearl Street, Downtown Fort Wayne
8:00am - 2:00pm
Here's what's going on downtown:
The Pearl Street Market will offer fun, funky, fabulous finds for everyone! Old cool stuff, mixed in with hip new crap! We've over 30 separate vendors who'll be selling their wears. We have folks from every walk of life, some are sassy, others sexy, still some are bitchy. We promise: No beanie babies, no baby clothes (unless they're vintage), no clip on hair, no clips for your potato chip bag, no Nascar memorabilia, no wind chimes, no babies breath on a wooden spoon - get the hint? We hope to see you there!
For info and rates 260.424.7355
This year's survey reveals a growing number of diverse locations — both indoors and outdoors — where people can log on and connect to the Internet without wires. Today, wireless hotspots can be found at coffee shops, colleges and hotels, but they're also popping up at skate parks, pipe shops, gas stations, bowling alleys and golf courses. >See where Fort Wayne Ranks
by Seth GodinIt's one thing to say, "yep, of course, small is the new big." It's quite another to actually do anything about it.
For the last six years, I've had exactly one employee. Me. This has changed my worklife in ways that I hadn't predicted. >Link
by Seth GodinBig used to matter. Big meant economies of scale. (You never hear about “economies of tiny” do you?) [...]
And then small happened. >Link
Program is part of Green City Initiative
Fort Wayne, Ind. -- More than 300 City vehicles that previously ran on diesel fuel now run on biodiesel fuel.
The conversion to biodiesel fuel is part of Fort Wayne Mayor Graham Richard's Green City Initiative. In February, Mayor Richard announced a series of programs aimed at improving government services and making the City more environmentally friendly.
Biodiesel reduces nearly all forms of air pollution, petroleum consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and oil dependence.
Biodiesel is registered with the Environmental Protection Agency as a legal fuel and has completed rigorous health effects testing. The City also receives federal tax credits by using biodiesel and can apply for state grants.
Publisher: News Sentinel
Author: Leo Morris
Mike Fritsch and Darwin Dahlgren were walking around in downtown Indianpolis one day and happened to run into Fort Wayne Mayor Graham Richard. While they were talking, a car took a turn around the corner too sharply and drove onto the median. Then, a second car did the same thing, and a third.
"You know," Richard said, "that's probably a design flaw (in the road), but nobody knows about it."
"It's funny you should mention that," Fritsch replied. "We're working on something that would take care of that."
Because of that chance encounter and conversation, the city of Fort Wayne became one of the many "partners" for Zoom Information Systems, the new company of Fritsch and Dahlgren located in the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center off of Illinois Road. And when Zoom demonstrated its work for the Transportation Research Board's annual meeting in January, it was one of the city's dump trucks that took part in the experiment.
The vehicle, made by International Truck (another partner) simply drove around a few Fort Wayne streets. But sensors on the truck send graphs to computer screens watched by the 10,000 people who attended the meeting, and cameras on the trucks sent real-time photos of what the streets looked like. The peaks and valleys in the graphs represented road conditions — cracks and bumps, even potholes. The cameras offered proof that what the graphs were showing represented true conditions.
Imagine — as Fritsch and Dahlgren have — how variations of that little exercise could change driving in this country. What the company OnStar now does — providing mapping directions by satellite — is small stuff compared to what is possible.
"A lot of the sensors are already in vehicles," says Zoom President Fritsch (Dahlgren is CEO), "and collecting so much information. The trick is to put the information in the right buckets to analyze it and make use of it."
That's where the software programs being developed by Zoom will come in. Vehicles moving on roads all across the country will send information to state transportation departments, trucking companies, even individual cars. Your car could tell you, for example, that there's a traffic jam developing up ahead, or that there's a patch of ice coming up. Your windshield sensors could help the National Weather Service give immediate advice on developing conditions. Shock-absorber sensors could tell city, county or state road departments where potholes and pavement breaks are.
"Even that curve up ahead could talk to you — 'Hey, Dummy, slow down.' "
If you've heard traffic reports from bigger cities, you know some of this is going on now, sort of. "When you hear, for example, that it's taking so many minutes to negotiate such-and-such a highway into Chicago, they do with cameras, by taking pictures of license plates.. If they take a picture of a license plate at one point on the road, then record it 18 minutes later at another, that's the time they give you." That's not exactly real time, which is what dealing with today's traffic requires.
"A lot of departments of transportation are moving from the road-building business — at this point, there are only so many more roads you can build — and into the traffic-unsnarling business. Traffic is never going to do anything but increase."
Indiana was the perfect place to locate the new business, Fritsch says, because of how many auto and trucking businesses there are. And northeast Indiana is particularly well-suited. It takes five pages to list the companies in the eight economic clusters important to the region; two of the five are devoted just to the automotive cluster.
Zoom has only six employees and doesn't have a system in place yet. But a lot of people believe in its potential, including all the company's partners. One of them is Boeing, which hopes its satellites will be used to collect the data. Another is the state of Indiana, which provided a $1.5 million Indiana 21st Century & Research Fund grant.
And if you're not a believer, just think about it for a moment next time you try to drive home during rush hour.
Builder plans 19 downtown condos
By Jenni Glenn in The Journal Gazette
A $2.3 million project to convert a vacant factory into urban loft-style condominiums will add to the city's housing stock within easy reach of downtown.
If the 19 condos just north of downtown sell quickly, the developer might build more housing in the neighborhood south of the YWCA. John McKay, president of Hartland Development, envisions building as many as 415 housing units there and investing up to $85 million.
The future of redevelopment efforts in the neighborhood north of the St. Marys River has been a question mark since December, when the Salvation Army rejected a proposal to build a $176 million community center on the YWCA site and adjacent property owned by OmniSource.
So far, Hartland Development has scheduled a makeover for only the former Colwell Inc. paint chip production facility at 200 Sixth St., on the northwest corner of Harrison Street. The red-brick building will house seven, two-story condos and 12 single-story units. The condos will range in size from 1,350 to 2,000 square feet. McKay said he will start pre-selling the condominiums Friday for between $150,000 and $180,000.
Construction will start about Aug. 1 and last about 10 months, said Holly Hunter, vice president for Hamilton Hunter Builders Inc., the project contractor.
The condos will retain the "industrial flavor" of the factory, said Michael McKay, a partner in the architecture firm Morrison Kattman Menze Inc., which is designing the housing. He and John McKay are brothers.
Renovations will leave the duct work near the 12-foot-tall ceilings exposed, along with some masonry work, Michael McKay said. The building's brick walls will be left in place. The windows and wooden floors need to be replaced, but Michael McKay said the new features will try to mimic the feel of the factory. The one-story office building on the lot will be demolished to make room for garages.
The structure was built in the 1890s to house General Printing Corp. The printing company was later owned by Colwell Inc., which vacated the building in 2001 when the paint sample manufacturer consolidated its operations in Kendallville, said Ellen Mann, vice president of account services for Colwell.
McKay has an agreement to buy the building for $550,000. He said renovating the factory will cost about $1.8 million.
Similar urban loft housing is being built in former warehouses in major cities such as New York and Chicago, Michael McKay said. The final result should appeal to empty-nesters and young professionals, he said.
"I'm guessing once Fort Wayne sees these, we won't be able to sell them fast enough," he said.
John McKay said he anticipates demand for urban housing could cause the condos to sell quickly. This project could fuel further residential redevelopment in the neighborhood, which contains single-family homes, rental homes and light-industrial operations.
McKay's ideas involve building brownstones along Cass Street, adding other lofts along Harrison Street and constructing a mid- to high-rise apartment building in the southern part of the neighborhood near the St. Marys River.
Fort Wayne has "a pent-up need for urban housing," he said. The city needs more housing options to entice people to move downtown, he said.
Mayor Graham Richard said he is pleased to see the developer investing in an area near downtown and giving an old building a new, residential use.
Studies commissioned by the city and others have pinpointed a need for this type of urban condominium, said Heather Presley, the city's deputy director for housing and neighborhood services.
"These are what we call catalyst projects," she said. "This will show the community another lifestyle option."
Neighbors want to see the building and the larger neighborhood redeveloped, said Robert Martin, president of the Bloomingdale Neighborhood Association, which includes the vacant factory. More than half of the homes in the area are rentals, and the neighborhood would benefit from upgraded, owner-occupied houses, he said. The project will encourage landscaping and other beautification efforts.
"It's the gateway to downtown, any way you slice it," Martin said.
Mayor one of top 25 doers, dreamers and drivers
Fort Wayne, Ind. -- Fort Wayne Mayor Graham Richard has been selected by Government Technology magazine and the Center for Digital Government as one of the top 25 doers, dreamers and drivers in the nation who have made significant contributions to the digital government movement.
Government Technology magazine's March 2005 issue recognizes public sector leaders from all areas of government who are reshaping and advancing digital government.
"I am pleased that we're being recognized for what we're doing with technology in the City," said Fort Wayne Mayor Graham Richard. "We are making great strides in providing technology services for our community. An example is the $65 million Verizon fiber optic broadband program that makes Fort Wayne a leader in technology and innovative investments."
Other top 25 members include Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner, Colorado Secretary of State Donetta Davidson, California CIO J. Clark Kelso, and Massachusetts CIO Peter Quinn.
In 2003, Fort Wayne was ranked as the number one digital city in the country by the Center for Digital Government.
From Bryan-College Station, Texas, to Madison, Wis., America's college towns are producing more than diplomas - they have become job machines.The cap-and-gown nests, in fact, have some of the fastest economic growth and lowest jobless rates in the nation. This reflects a change in the way many universities now think of themselves: The ivory towers have been replaced by research parks working on cutting-edge technologies from stem-cell research to fuel cells. >Link
Fort Wayne's Science Central shows how industrial buildings can be adapted to new uses. The former electricity plant was empty for nearly 20 years before becoming a popular science museum full of interactive exhibits for kids and adults alike. >Link
Three buildings for the biomedical, technology industries will go up at Stellhorn, St. Joe roads.
From staff reports Fort Wayne News Sentinel
Construction is under way on the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center at the northeast corner of Stellhorn and St. Joe roads. The center, which helps workers develop skills for the biomedical and technology industries, is currently housed in leased space at Raytheon Co. on Production Road. "We are moving as quickly as we can to get enclosed before the bad winter sets in," President and Chief Executive Officer Karl LaPan has said. The first phase is the 40,000-square-foot Biomedical Research Center that will anchor the project. It will take probably another year to finish. About 30 percent of the facility could be used for biomedical research. The group plans to construct three buildings totaling 83,290 square feet on 13.7 acres that formerly was part of the Fort Wayne State Developmental Center. The construction is being paid for with the aid of an $800,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The center also received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration in mid-September. The funds, approved last December, will be used to support operations at the center. The SBA grant is part of about $2.3 million in federal funds pegged for the center. Another $500,000 grant from the Health and Human Services Administration will help pay for equipment. All told, the Innovation Center has raised more than $7.6 million to cover capital costs. >Link
Thursday, August 12th, 7-10 PM, 1301 Lafayette St. at Douglas Ave.
Northeast Indiana Innovation Center sponsors the launch party and unveiling of Kinosynth, a brain imaging device by Resistors. Kinosynth's features will be showcased with live visuals, digital imaging and digital projection — really, it's the greatest thing you've never seen. What's more: free food and entertainment at the Avant-Garde Gallery in the DeSoto Building. >Link
By Mark Clayton | Staff writer of The Christian Science MonitorSo, you're thinking of buying one of those gas-electric hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius or Honda Insight. They're trendy, conserve fuel, and reduce pollution. But to really go "green," some entrepreneurs and academics say, you should try a Volkswagen Jetta.
Not just any Jetta. A dark blue one that a California electric-car company has modified so that it not only uses electricity but generates it for other purposes. So, once it's parked, you plug it in and sell excess electricity to a utility.
It sounds like a good way to meet car payments. But don't start counting the cash just yet. >Link
Neither big auto-makers nor utility companies have yet seized on the idea, known as "vehicle-to-grid," or V2G. Still, V2G is an idea waiting to happen - and the push toward hybrids today is making it ever more likely, say scientists, entrepreneurs, and economists.
"As electric-drive hybrids begin to penetrate the auto market, you now have distributed power generation on wheels," says Stephen Letendre, an economist at Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vt. "You also have an asset that's sitting idle most of the time - just waiting to be connected."
Of the more than 235 million vehicles in the United States today, only a few thousand are hybrids. And these lack the extra internal circuitry and external plug necessary to give electricity back.
But if automakers were to make 1 million next-generation V2G vehicles by 2020, they could generate up to 10,000 megawatts of electricity - about the capacity of 20 average-size power plants, according to a 2001 study by AC Propulsion, the electric vehicle maker in San Dimas, Calif., that created the V2G Jetta.
While vehicles could generate plenty of power - studies show they sit idle 90 percent of the time - it would be far too costly to use as simple "base-load" power. Their main value would be in supplying spurts of peak and other specialty "ancillary" power for which utilities pay premium prices. It would be far cheaper for utilities to tap the batteries of thousands of cars, say, than the current practice of keeping huge turbines constantly spinning just to supply power at a moment's notice, studies show.
And there would be little risk of leaving the office to discover a car with a dead battery. That's because V2G cars would have on-board controls to prevent their batteries from being drawn below minimum travel needs set by the owner - say, a 50-mile trip.
There are signs V2G is beginning to generate more than just academic buzz.
- In Toronto, a V2G fuel-cell bus is to be in service in March.
- Power company PG&E is working with the electric industry's research arm and a contractor to develop a fleet of V2G "trouble trucks" that could generate and deliver power to entire neighborhoods when a storm knocks out power.
- DaimlerChrysler has reported it is working on a version of its popular pickup truck with V2G capability for supplying power at a work site.
- AC Propulsion has plans to make as many as 1,000 V2G electric-drive vehicles starting as soon as next year.
- A major Florida city is on the verge of buying more than 50 battery-powered buses, including several that are V2G capable.
But it's the idea of V2G on a larger scale that most awes Howard Ross, president of Ross Transportation Technology, which is getting set to build the Florida buses.
"There's enough wind power in three Plains states to provide power to the entire country - but there's no way today to store that power," Dr. Ross says. "If you have V2G auto storage, you can tap into renewables."
Wide use of V2G electric-drive vehicles could generate enough power to cut the requirement for central generating station capacity by as much as 20 percent by the year 2050, says the Electric Power Research Institute, a utility industry research center in Palo Alto, Calif.
But "if you asked 20 different utilities today what they thought of vehicles putting power back into the grid, you wouldn't get a very positive response," says Mark Duvall, EPRI's manager of technology development for electric transportation. "It took a long time to assure the utility industry that it was worthwhile just to plug solar and other items into the grid. It's going to make them very nervous."
Today's Toyota Prius battery pack is too small to make it a viable V2G option, says V2G pioneer Willett Kempton, who estimates it would add roughly $400 to a car's overall cost. In the long run, fuel-cell cars will far exceed hybrids in their electric generating potential, he adds.
Pop Filter was such a big hit - these creative folks have a real encore problem! But no doubt, City Prototype will wow us all over again! Spread the word, and mark your calendars now. Janette Luu recently shared the City Prototype overview below:
CITY PROTOTYPE (August 10-14, 2004)
“I didn’t think I was in Fort Wayne.” That was the most common statement made after the Pop Filter multimedia art event at the Avant-Garde Gallery on January 17, 2004. More than 700 people immersed themselves in a unique social environment that fused video, music, visual art and drama on two floors of the DeSoto Building on Lafayette Street. Since then, many have asked Pop Filter creators, Janette Luu and Matt Stuart, to produce another event.
However, Pop Filter is expanding its focus from the art scene to the city of Fort Wayne. In an effort to present the Summit City in a new light, Luu and Stuart will be offering a City Prototype through a week-long experience in August. A series of events will serve as working models that emphasize the importance of ideas and creativity as precious resources for economic growth, as well as the impact that technology and innovation have on our future economy. Each prototype will feature the undervalued assets and underutilized spaces of downtown Fort Wayne.
Public Art Campaign: Weekend of July 31st, corner of Clinton St. and Fourth St.
Local artists will paint/decorate old junk TVs at the OmniSource freight house. The community will be invited to watch the process, which will be documented on video. The piece will be shown at the Prototype News Conference, as well as Pop Filter.
Prototype News Conference: Tuesday, August 10th, 10:30 AM, 110 W. Berry St., 26th floor
City leaders will gather at the Summit Club in the National City Center to endorse the City Prototype initiative. A public art campaign will kick off with painted television sets placed at the transfer points for the CitiLoop trolley route. The TVs will highlight the innovation of Fort Wayne’s own Philo T. Farnsworth, the inventor of television.
Prototype Collaboration: Wednesday, August 11th, 12-6 PM, corner of Wayne St. and Calhoun St.
High school students will take part in a video project that shows innovation and creativity at work. The teenagers will be encouraged to use problem-solving skills to address issues including the brain drain and downtown revitalization. Tools of the digital revolution (e.g. DVD player, MP3 player, digital camera) will be given away as prizes.
Prototype Product Launch: Thursday, August 12th, 7-10 PM, 1301 Lafayette St. at Douglas Ave.
Northeast Indiana Innovation Center will sponsor a launch party for a prototype brain imaging device to be unveiled at the Avant-Garde Gallery in the DeSoto Building. Technology including live visuals, digital imaging and digital projection will assist in showcasing the product and its uses. Free food and entertainment will be provided.
Prototype Storefront: Friday, August 13th, 12-10 PM, downtown Fort Wayne
Digital AV will transform a vacant downtown retail space into a dynamic digital storefront promoting several local entrepreneurs and highlighting the downtown revitalization. Nearby businesses will be encouraged to stay open later than usual. Free food and entertainment will be provided.
Prototype Immersive Experience – Pop Filter: Saturday, August 14th, 8 PM-2 AM, 300 block Main St.
With the help of Markey’s Audio Visual, the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, the Performing Arts Center and the FourthWave building (formerly NIPSCO) will be part of an all-ages multimedia art event celebrating the end of City Prototype. Headline performances include Eszter Balint, a New York singer/songwriter and actress, and Jonathan Goldstein, a writer and former producer for NPR’s “This American Life.” Admission is $15 in advance or $20 at the door.
Producers: Janette Luu, Matt Stuart
Executive Producer: Richard Florida, author of “The Rise of the Creative Class”
Sponsors: Downtown Improvement District, Northeast Indiana Innovation Center, National City Bank, One Lucky Guitar, Digital AV, Markey’s Audio Visual, Indiana Data Center, Farm Bureau Insurance, Fort Wayne Councilman Dr. John Crawford, Ian & Mimi Rolland
By Tim Knauss Staff writer - The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY)As soon as Joe Cummins learned that a diesel car could be modified to run on a restaurant's used vegetable oil, he just had to have one.
"It made so much sense," he said.
For one thing, vegetable oil produces less air pollution than petroleum diesel. And it's a renewable fuel, which helps reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.
But for crying out loud, don't overlook the obvious: The stuff is free. >Link
To fuel his 2002 Volkswagen Golf, Cummins picks up 5-gallon containers of waste vegetable oil from the ABC Cafe in Ithaca, near where he lives. He strains it through a filter into a barrel in his basement and - voila! - motor fuel.
"The minute I saw that a car could run on vegetable oil that you got for free, I knew I had to do it," he said.
Interest in veggie cars, as they are sometimes known, has been slowly growing during the past couple years among back-yard tinkerers and Green Party types, but there still aren't many such vehicles on the road.
Greasecar Vegetable Fuel Systems, of Florence, Mass., which manufactures the conversion kit in Cummins' car, has sold just 400 since its inception in 2001. Its primary competitor, 3-year-old Greasel Conversions, of Drury, Mo., reports sales of about 2,000 kits.
But if gasoline prices keep rising, Cummins might soon have plenty of company. "We're absolutely just buried" with recent orders, said Charlie Anderson, founder of Greasel.
For help making his car run on vegetable oil, Cummins turned to Seth Mead, 27, a high school science teacher and the founder of Liquid Solar Inc., a veggie car company in Ithaca.
Mead has degrees in natural resources and teaching from Cornell University, but no background in mechanics or engineering. Nevertheless, the first time he saw a car converted to burn vegetable oil, it brought out the tinkerer in him.
"I thought, "I could do that,"' he said.
Two years ago, Mead installed a second fuel tank and a second set of fuel lines in his Ford F-250 pickup truck so that, as soon as the truck warms up on regular diesel fuel, Mead flips a switch and it starts burning vegetable oil.
In the two years since then, Mead has installed Greasecar kits in a dozen cars around Ithaca. His business partner, Scott Hannan, has converted a dozen others.
As interest grew, they sensed a business opportunity. Six months ago, they founded Liquid Solar Inc.
In addition to converting cars to run on vegetable oil, they are preparing to launch a business selling waste oil to people who don't want to collect their own from restaurants.
Perfecting filter technique
Mead is working with Cornell University engineering students to perfect techniques for filtering the waste oil, and he says he has an agreement with a local store to sell the oil in 5-gallon containers. Mead hopes to begin the fuel sales by the end of summer.
Liquid Solar is the only company in New York that installs Greasecar systems, according to Greasecar founder Justin Carven.
Here's the arrangement: The customer buys a conversion kit from Greasecar for about $800. Mead and Hannan charge $40 an hour to install it, which usually takes 12 to 15 hours, for a bill of about $500 to $600.
With gas and diesel prices near $2 a gallon, it would take 650 to 700 gallons to pay for the conversion - just over a year's worth of driving for the average consumer.
The risk for car owners like Cummins, whose vehicle is still under warranty, is that car manufacturers typically void warranties when the fuel system is modified. Whether dealers honor warranties for components unrelated to the fuel system may depend on the dealer, Mead said.
Must heat the oil first
What's involved in the conversion?
To explain, Mead opened the hatchback on Cummins' Golf. In the well intended for a spare tire sat a cylindrical 15-gallon fuel tank. Lines from the tank run under the car to the engine.
The fuel lines leading to and from the vegetable fuel tank are bundled with other lines carrying hot engine coolant. The hot fluid heats the veggie oil to reduce viscosity, the key to making it ready for the engine.
"The rest of it is all switches and electronics," Mead said.
Mead jumps into the car to show how it works. He starts it under diesel power to give the veggie oil time to heat up. He drives around the corner from his house and heads for Route 13. About a minute after starting the car, while accelerating up a hill on 13, he hits a switch on the dashboard and switches to veggie oil.
There is no difference.
"As you can see, the car functions just like it's supposed to," he said.
After driving awhile, he heads back to his house. At the curb, Mead lets the car idle for about 30 seconds in diesel mode to cycle the vegetable oil out of the engine. Then he shuts the car off.
Simple enough, but will the motoring masses cotton to vegetable oil?
Jenna Higgins, of the National Biodiesel Board, doesn't think so. Few are as dismissive of "straight vegetable oil" aficionados as their cousins in the renewable fuel business, the biodiesel industry.
"People using straight veg-oil and promoting it give us heartburn," said Higgins, whose group represents biodiesel refiners. "We worry about there being confusion over straight veg-oil versus biodiesel."
One key difference is this: Straight vegetable oil is still grass roots. Biodiesel is becoming big business.
Chemically, the difference is this: Biodiesel is made from vegetable oil - usually soybean oil - but alcohol and lye are added to separate out glycerin, the stuff that makes oil thick and sticky. That's why biodiesel doesn't have to be heated before use; it can be used in conventional diesel engines without modification.
Biodiesel is usually blended with 80 percent petroleum diesel to achieve a mixture called B20. Even B100, or 100 percent biodiesel, can be used in most diesel engines without any modification.
Production of biodiesel has increased from 500,000 gallons in 1999 to 25 million in 2003, Higgins said.
Biodiesel is far from free. B20 typically costs about 20 cents a gallon more than diesel; B100 costs about $1 more.
Biodiesel must meet standards set by the American Society for Testing and Materials. It is recognized as a motor fuel by the Environmental Protection Agency. Every gallon can be expected to be the same.
Perfecting the process
That cannot be said for veggie oil, the quality of which varies depending on the source and how well it is strained.
Mead said he is working with Cornell students on perfecting Liquid Solar's refining process for recycled veggie oil to ensure consistent high quality.
The case for straight veggie oil is not far-fetched, says Carven, 27, whose Greasecar company evolved out of his senior project as a mechanical design student at Hampshire College. After all, he said, Rudolph Diesel ran his first engine on peanut oil.
Carven said veggie cars are a grass-roots response to the lack of innovation from the automobile and petroleum industries. He contrasted the homegrown research into veggie cars, which already work, with the millions that big industry is pouring into hydrogen fuel cell cars, which face major technological hurdles.
"We're just trying to make it available to conscious individuals who are looking for an alternative and are sick of waiting around for one to be handed to them," Carven said. "Major auto manufacturers are not going to get behind this unless infrastructure was created and money could be made."
Should veggie oil be taxed?
The notion of recycling restaurant oil to power a car is so new that arguments rage over whether it should be taxed.
Mead argues that since EPA doesn't recognize veggie oil as a motor fuel, it might be exempt from the state and federal excise taxes on diesel and gasoline that are collected at the pump. Those taxes add about 41 cents a gallon.
Tom Bergin, speaking for the state tax department, disagreed. Although he couldn't be definitive, Bergin said he thinks Mead will have to charge both sales and excise taxes when he starts selling waste oil as motor fuel.
"This is all kind of fluffy," Mead said. "There are really no hard (rules). If we force the issue, great. It'll give us more legitimacy, and then we can move on."
Copyright 2004 Post-Standard, All Rights Reserved.
The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY)