"Going Grease"
This story appeared on The Early Show.
Trent Schmidt runs a restaurant in Reno, Nev. that produces a lot of grease -- 300 gallons a month.
And the stuff that cooks his fries -- is now also running his car -- a Volkswagen Jetta that's been converted into a so-called "veggie vehicle," a hybrid that runs on a combination of diesel fuel and vegetable oil. In other words -- grease.
Schmidt told me, "I have to say that there is a certain empowering moment when you flip the switch inside the car to go to grease, because then you're driving for free! And I still haven't gotten over that, that every time I push that button, I feel a little bit smarter, and feel like its paying off for me."
While it wasn't cheap -- converting the engine cost him two grand -- Schmidt says he now gets 40-miles-a-gallon and saves between $800 and 1,200 a year on gas.
He's not alone. More and more drivers are "going grease." For some, it's practical; for others, environmental -- a social statement against Big Oil.
For one man near San Francisco, it was even criminal: He was recently charged with stealing grease from a Burger King restaurant.
Schmidt realizes he's got a precious commodity, so he sells whatever he doesn't drive on. Plus, he never worries about running on empty.
He says, "I guess, if worst came to worst, I could stop by a 24-hour Wal-Mart and grab a couple gallons of Crisco and pour it in!"
Schmidt wants to eventually run his house and his restaurant on vegetable oil.
We drove 481 miles in our latest run, from the Lake Tahoe area to Elko, Nev., where we are now. We put 8.06 gallons into our Prius' tank just outside Elko, at $4.19 a gallon, for a total of $33.62.
We also had our first mishap: a crack in our windshield, courtesy of a flying pebble.