Read the whole story from the August 2007 issue in this PDF.

The Green Girls stopped by Lovecraft! Check it out!

Follow our intrepid Green Guide staffer as she travels from Atlanta to California and back—chronicling her adventures in low-consumption, low-budget travel. Use the handy map below to follow her path and view her favorite snapshots.

http://recycleemail.com/uncategorized/the-toys-of-summer-salsa-verde-mattress-and-box-spring-buying-guide/

http://www.thegreenguide.com/two_green_girls/?source=email_gg_20080806&email=gg 

"Illinois, North Carolina, Texas, Rhode Island and Indiana have exempted drivers burning kitchen grease from paying such a tax (road tax)." -Los Angeles Times, May 6, 2008.

Using our system you can still run diesel or biodiesel. The laws are changing all the time.Many states are working on making running on WVO (waste oil) tax exempt.

Tacee Webb on All Things Considered

Photo by Madeleine Brand, NPR

I don't think he'd be offended if I told you that my husband is a weirdo. Ok, maybe that's a bit strong. He's an iconoclast.

When we first moved out to LA from New York, he wanted to live in a shipping container. I thought maybe it would be a bit cramped. A bit freezing/boiling in the winter/summer. I was pregnant at the time, and not into experimental nesting. Of course, within a year, it would be uber-hip to have your home made out of shipping containers from here to China.

Score one for Joe.

Joe, of course, doesn't see his far-sightedness as a competition. (And he also can't help butting in on my blog post to explain his thinking.) "I grew up in Buffalo," explains Joe, "which is all about decay and rust and old buildings. I was excited by the prospect of California's wide open space, light and sun. I thought you could live in anything. A yurt, e.g.. And then my inner-Rust Belt thought: why not shipping containers?"

Thanks, honey. Back to my story now.

Joe's french fry oil burning engine

Next, Joe announced he was buying a used Mercedes Benz diesel station wagon so that he could convert it to run on veggie oil. I did the equivalent of a "that's nice, dear" and leased my own brand-new car. (Leased? Brand new? What would Michelle Singletary say?)

But this was before gas was $1,000/ gallon. Now things are a little different. Score two for Joe.

After my lease was up this year, guess what I bought? It's gold, with tinted windows. I call it my Serbian taxi.

And it runs on veggie oil....that we buy for $2.25/gallon.

Now, who's the weirdo?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/daydreaming/2008/06/the_serbian_taxi_of_gold_1.html 

When Rudolph Diesel debuted his namesake engine at the 1900 World’s Fair, he ran it on straight peanut oil. The modern diesel engine runs the same way with a few modifications: a booster pump, a heated filter, a heat exchanger, and a few extra hoses. Lovecraft Bio Fuels, based in L.A. and Portland, Oregon, sells these do-it-yourself kits, and for another $400 or so, will convert your car while you wait. Once complete, your diesel will run on used fryer oil scavenged from restaurants. For operating at colder temperatures, Lovecraft recommends adding an injection line heater, such as those offered at fattywagons.com, and an in-line heater, like those at planetdrive.com. Or if you live where it stays below freezing for extended periods, consider a two-tank system, which lets you start the car with regular diesel and switch to veggie once it’s warm. While emissions figures for waste veggie oil (WVO) are not readily available, mainly because different oils produce different results, WVO does, in fact, produce CO2. However, it’s a closed cycle—meaning the plants used to make the oil consume enough CO2 in their lifespan to offset the car’s emissions. It also helps that you are running your car on something that will sit in a landfill or be rendered into pig feed. Plus no country has ever been invaded over their reserves of burnt fryer oil.

Here is a Link . 

Here is a PDF .

Confessions of a Biodiesel Driver

by George Wolfe

It was a balmy Friday evening in May, 2006 and I somehow found myself alone on a supposed date with my wife. The kids were in good care, I’m sure, somewhere. So there we were, methodically — actually, I was more reluctantly — winding through the gridiron streets of downtown Santa Monica, looking for “one of those biodiesel cars” that she swore she’d seen for sale “one of these streets.” Some date. Then she squeals: “There it is!” We pull up beside the BBQ-red Mercedes 300CD coupe.

Thus began my entry into the world of greasecars (aka biodiesels). We’d both begun to hear about them, passing emails and magazine clips back and forth, but at the time (not even so long ago) they were still very “fringey.” I didn’t know anyone personally who had one. I’d been driving a trusty Honda Civic that I gotten new 10+ years prior, but after it was totaled twice, it was time to make a change — third time might not be such a charm.

Very informative presentation on History Channel Modern Marvels.

Local youth becomes bio-friendly

The kids at Positive Alternatives for Youth (PAY) have demonstrated their concern for Mother Earth with their recent project of converting a diesel engine school bus into a bio-fuel vehicle.

Director of youth development for PAY, Manny Velazquez, said individuals from high schools throughout the Valley such as Reseda, Monroe, Verdugo Hills, Van Nuys and Panorama are all taking part in the project.

Many kids in the PAY program come from some of the toughest environments around. Some are or were in gangs and tagging crews, while others experienced trouble with drugs or issues in school.

"These kids are no strangers to drive-bys and drug deals," Velazquez said. "We want to show that they care about the environment enough to convert their bus to run on veggie oil."

He said most kids who participate show up to PAY through word-of-mouth. They hear that PAY is a safe-haven, a place for them to hang out. Also, schools and probation officers refer troubled kids to the program. Still, others who need to rack up community service hours complete them by participating with PAY.

Jennifer Roman, 28, is the director of Cal State Northridge's MOSAIC program. This program works in conjunction with PAY, putting college students to serve as mentors for the high school students.

It was through MOSAIC that PAY received the short school bus as a donation. One of MOSAIC's partners, CM Concrete - a Moorpark demolition company - donated the vehicle. The company also agreed to cover the insurance each year.

"The bus was well-maintained and in running condition," said Roman.

The bus will be crucial for PAY since it takes kids regularly on field trips, parades, health fairs and will even drop kids off at home.

The bus will be converted into a bio-fuel vehicle free of charge by Lovecraft Bio-Fuels in Los Angeles.

"They met with the kids, were impressed with them and are not charging them for the conversion in return for advertising," said Velazquez.

Aside from having a free vehicle, not to mention the free oil it will run on, kids from PAY will reach out to local businesses who are willing to make contributions in return for advertisement on the bus.

About 20 kids are involved directly in the project. Their responsibilities include looking at the costs involved and solving issues such as how to find the fuel, pump it and store it.

Not bad for a group of kids that have been in continuation school, probation and have even been arrested.

Velazquez said the group meets weekly and sometimes they have whining sessions. But ultimately the kids begin to grasp the reality of they've accomplished.

Aaron Gordezky, 18, is a student from Jack London Continuation School in North Hollywood and a member of the conversion team.

Gordezky is happy about the project the group has embarked upon.

"Its a very good thing. What we're doing is creating something positive," said Gordezky.

He said PAY is a way for many kids to see new opportunities that maybe they didn't see before.

"It works because the youth today doesn't know about the opportunities out there. This program helped me to see ... no one every told me this could be a career."

Pauline Torres, 16, is a student at Options for Youth in Van Nuys and also a part of the conversion project.

Her responsibilities include creating the myspace page for the project as well as researching where to get the veggie oil to fuel the bus. She is currently helping distribute pamphlets to inform people about what the group is doing.

While taking part in the project, Torres has discovered new avenues in life.

"We meet a lot of people, learn people skills, do research ... qualities needed in the future as adults," said Torres. "It gives us a place to go, rather than being on the streets or getting in trouble."

The project has exposed youth on the opportunities waiting for them when they reach adulthood. As for the education aspect, Velazquez explains "these guys work on a project that keeps them busy ... they make mistakes, but they learn to get past them."

PAY is located at 14418 Chase St., Suite 205, Panorama City. For more information about PAY, call Velazquez at (818) 895-5132.

Check out this awesome link!

Check us out in the July Issue of Wired. Here is a PDF for easy reading.

Fast Food Fuel 

Gossip Should Have No Friends

SLICK CHICK Think Mandy Moore, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and a barrel of vegetable oil, and what comes to mind might not be biodiesel. However, Lovecraft Biofuels is L.A.'s hippest new scene—a "conversion station" on Sunset where glam stars and flex-happy guvs are trickin' their vehicles out to run on SVO—straight vegetable oil. On March 10, Tacee Webb (the gal behind Red Light who is currently bringing more American Apparel shops to the Rose City and across the nation) will bring all the chic of conservation to Portland by opening a branch of Lovecraft Biofuels on Southeast 12th Avenue and Division Street . "I think it'd be cool to have a bunch of cute girl mechanics," Webb said about the future Portland crew who'll wrangle Lovecraft's easy-to-install conversion packets, which cost $425 and give the engine of your diesel ride a makeover—allowing it to run on veggie oil, bio- or petro-diesel. And smell the future, friends: Webb also plans to include a scented-car option with the conversion kit.

The thin edge of the veg

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Diane Keaton and singer Mandy Moore have filled their tanks with vegetable oil or taken test drives at Lovecraft Bio-Fuels in Los Angeles

BRETT CLARKSON

LOS ANGELES–Welcome to Hollywood, where even your car
can be a vegetarian.
Thanks to Brian Friedman and his small staff at Lovecraft
Bio-Fuels, a rapidly growing number of enviro-conscious
Californian drivers are filling their tanks with vegetable oil.
Not gas, not diesel, not even biodiesel: Just 100 per cent pure vegetable oil purchased at
supermarkets and convenience stores.
"I think it has the potential to be a huge, massive, world-changing thing – honestly," says the
soft-spoken Friedman, 40.
His Lovecraft garage, which occupies 10,000 square feet in the trendy Silverlake district of L.A.,
can convert three to five diesel cars a day to run on vegetable oil. With three full-time
mechanics, the shop has done nearly 900 vehicles since opening on Sunset Blvd. about 18
months ago, says Friedman, who did conversions independently for about four years before
starting his business. All told, he estimates he has been involved in 1,000 conversions.
Big names such as California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and singer Mandy Moore have
been customers. Diane Keaton came in for a test drive. Al Gore's office phoned a few times but
business was so hectic that the admittedly shambolic Friedman and his staff didn't return the
calls.
"I'm not organized at all," says Friedman. "My filing cabinet is my front pockets, which I'll empty
every few weeks into a pile I'll never see again."
By January, Lovecraft – which doesn't advertise beyond bumper stickers – was generating more
attention than Friedman and the staff of seven could handle. Diesel car fanatic Judi Krant was
hired to handle public relations. The 34-year-old transplanted New Yorker (who once lived in
Toronto for a year) owns three vegetable oil cars.
"I literally haven't been to a gas station, except to buy Gatorade or bottled water, in a year
now," she says while driving her converted 1982 Mercedes Benz 300D turbo diesel.

Now your car can be a vegetarian, too.

Mike Nott installs a vegetable-oil fuel system in a commercial delivery truck.

The number of such enthusiasts in Orange County and the rest of Southern California likely remains low. But diesel   mechanics here, in Los Angeles County and elsewhere are busy converting cars and trucks to run on vegetable oil, which only works with diesel engines. And they say the popularity of these conversions is increasing.
"Some people want to save the Earth," said Mike Nott, owner of Beach Benz in Huntington Beach,
who regularly installs vegetable-oil conversion kits in cars for his customers. "They don't want to
drive with fossil fuels."
Fresh vegetable oil can be purchased in stores and poured into the tank. But some veggie car
owners collect used cooking oil from restaurants and filter it for use as fuel – many for their own
vegetable-oil cars, and a few who have turned it into a small business, selling the processed oil to
other enthusiasts.

Fill up with vegetable oil? A new shop will fix you up.

BRETT CLARKSON

Tacee Webb uses space-age analogies to describe getting around Portland. Tram cars, she says, look like "little silver-steel spaceships floating above" Interstate 5.

So, of course, Webb thinks Portland is ready for cars powered by vegetable oil. Webb is CEO of Lovecraft Bio-Fuels, which is opening an outlet at 1216 S.E. Division St. The shop, the company's first outside Los Angeles, will convert diesel-engine
vehicles to run on pure vegetable oil. Lovecraft does conversions for about $725 and sells DIY kits for $425.

Doors open Saturday at 6 p.m. for an opening party, with drinks and a DJ. After that, the store will be open 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week.
The company launched in January 2006. Founder Brian Friedman has converted more than 1,000 engines, with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and singer Mandy Moore among customers.

 Aldona Watts, a 20-year-old student at the University of California at Los Angeles, bought a converted Mercedes from Lovecraft last year. "I was interested in biodiesel and biofuels. I didn't have a car and just moved to L.A., and realized I would need one -- definitely. I'd been bicycling," said Watts. "It actually runs pretty nice."

The notion of fueling diesel engines with vegetable oil isn't new, says Webb, who will run the Portland shop. The original diesel engine debuted at the 1900 Paris World's Fair, she notes, and ran on peanut oil. "What we're talking about is really returning to the original invention of Rudolf Diesel."

For more info, visit www.lovecraftbiofuels.com.

BRETT CLARKSON

author Mac Barnett :: photographer Duncan Stewart

While pundits and politicians debate the feasibility of ethanol, switchgrass, and other alt-energy sources, Los Angeles-based Lovecraft Biofuels is busy making cars run on vegetable oil. The autohouse will convert any diesel engine in an afternoon, for about $700. They also have a handsome fleet of converted Reagan-era Mercedes Benzes for sale, going for about $6,000 each. Forget any preconceptions of flubber-like complexity: Lovecraft's engine conversions are driven by founder Brian Friedman's imperative to "simplify, simplify, simplify." And business is brisk: the company performs about four conversions a day.

As for fuel, a nationwide network of biofuel stations already exists: grocery stores. New vegetable oil is available in bulk (around $2.60 a gallon at Costco; cheaper if you buy expired stuff). Those willing to forge friendships with deep-frying restaurateurs can fuel up for free, collecting used cooking oil and filtering it at home.

Friedman's ambitions include developing a conversion kit for every kind of diesel engine, and he talks about a future fueled by vegetables—with vegetable-powered farm equipment harvesting crops, vegetable powered machines turning those crops into oil, and vegetable-powered big rigs taking that oil to consumers. An utopian vision, yes, but with gas prices creeping ever skyward, it is also beginning to seem elegantly sensible.

Edgecutters TV did a little interview.

Kick the Oil Habit drove across the U.S. on biofuels and  they came to see us when they made it to L.A. Check it Out!

Here's a video interview from Treehugger TV

renewable energy is here and NOW!

by ucla grad102
what i want to address, instead of the myriad of developing technologies, is the currently available crop of
solutions to our energy crisis. Specifically, I'd like to look only at automobiles(biodiesel) and just a few
certain ideas. As a disclaimer, there are DOZENS of ideas in development for alternative fuels(magnegas,
Richard Branson's biobetunol, etc etc) THe LA WEEKLY even ran a front-pager about veggiecars and
electric cars, both existing and availble technologies. I ll provide links at the end. So I'd like to discuss my
car, only, even though I am aware of the myriad ideas being investigated. However, if you are a pessimist
who believes we need a SILVER BULLET to solve our transportation problem, then I can't help you. Also, I
do not have time nor desire to explore all the needed models of mass transportation. What I want to
discuss is HERE and NOW, and is part of the already-existing infrastructure that our inefficient system
employs.

From the Frying Pan to the Fuel Tank

SVO is gaining ground in LA as more people discover the delights of paying just once to convert their diesel engines to accommodate free, used restaurant cooking oil. No more gas stations; instead, it’s a scramble to stake out the finest local sushi and tempura restaurant (Japanese chefs replace cooking oil more often, resulting in a higher-grade fuel).

Restaurant owners are usually thrilled to bypass paying for oil disposal and will leave five-gallon jugs of used oil out back for their SVO partners. Oil must be filtered and batch-tested for high acidity before use.

Where biodiesel reduces the viscosity of vegetable oil through a chemical process, SVO reduces viscosity by preheating the oil in the engine. At Silver Lake-based Lovecraft Biofuels, owner Brian Freedman converts four or five diesel cars to SVO each day. He sells pre-filtered oil to those who don’t want to collect and prepare their own ($1.40/gallon for recycled oil, and between $2.40 and $2.60/gallon for new).

The choice between biodiesel and SVO garners strong opinions; sustainable fuel advocates usually stand for one or the other. The biodiesel camp points out that uncontrolled levels of oil quality, filtration and system maintenance mean that some SVO cars run clean, others dirty. Plus the heavier viscosity of SVO can age injectors and other engine parts faster. SVO advocates retort that biodiesel allows corporate America to maintain its grip on fuel profits through commercial refineries and biodiesel-petroleum diesel mixtures.

But one point is certain: in a petroleum-dominated world, fractious attitudes among alt fuel advocates are only going to throw a kink in the works. That’s why Russell Sydney, organizer of LA’s 400-member Sustainable Transport Club, chooses instead to network, share information on all types of transport and build community. Although he prefers biodiesel, he appreciates the potential of SVO. “SVO users have done a great job of identifying and using a wasted fuel source,” he said. “A community-based collection system would allow SVO to be treated properly. Creating quality fuel is key. But the first step is to stop being as wasteful as we are with the resources we’ve been blessed with.” —Katie Winchell

Going, Going, Green

By Eviana Hartman
Biodiesel -- one of the green movement's biggest buzzwords -- is
diesel fuel derived from a combination of alcohol and animal or
vegetable fats, instead of petroleum. Diesel cars and trucks can
run on it without any conversions, and while burning biofuels still
produces carbon dioxide, the levels released are much lower, the
exhaust contains fewer carcinogens and growing the crops to
produce it actually absorbs carbon dioxide.
Commercial biodiesel may be more expensive than regular diesel
or gasoline, but the fuel economy is significantly better. In smogchoked
Los Angeles, there's a new full-service biofuel center,
Lovecraft Biofuels (Mandy Moore is a customer). Unfortunately,
there's no one-stop shop yet in the D.C. area; for fuel stations that
sell biodiesel in Maryland and Virginia, go to
http://www.biodiesel.org/buyingbiodiesel/retailfuelingsites .

Valli Herman's story from the calender section on Saturday, August 5, 2006.

Here is a PDF .

Read the Blog here . 

I generally write about products and services that I have tried first hand, however just the idea behind Lovecraftbiofuels.com thrills me to no end.

Maybe this is just a California thing but people are buying up old diesel Mercedes Benz and converting them to run on veggie oil - you'll need to become good friends with a local restaurant for your supply. Apparently Japanese and Chinese restaurants have the cleanest oil.

There are so many people converting out here in fact, I'm afraid that the supply of good veggie oil has too much competition. However if I lived in Austin, Chicago or some other town, I really think this would be great - how many people want used veggie oil out there?

Wouldn't it be great if American farmers were the source of our fuel and we could pump corn oil at our local fuel (not gas) station.


U.S. Oil Profits Top Second Highest Record

Cars going green in Los Angeles 

Los Angeles -- With gasoline prices soaring, anxieties about global warming and concern over the war in Iraq, a small but growing group of drivers in Los Angeles is replacing oil with alternative fuels.

Clean fuel vehicle mechanic and salesman Brian Friedman cannot keep up with demand and says he is selling 20 vegetable oil-fueled cars a week.

Love Craft, his shop just east of Hollywood, is overflowing with 100 mostly late 1970s to early 1980s Mercedes diesel cars waiting to be converted and sold to anxious buyers.

"It’s not just the environmental hippie types that are interested in making the switch," Mr. Friedman told AFP. "We even get the rednecks in pickup trucks," he said, pointing to a hulking Ford F150.

Mr. Friedman has also seen growing interest from farmers seeking to convert their equipment, a surprising niche market in a city defined by car culture.

California dreamers do it with vegetable oil 

Los Angeles, California – A small but growing group in Los Angeles is responding to soaring petrol prices, global warming and concern over the war in Iraq by replacing fossil fuels with alternatives. Clean-fuel vehicle mechanic and salesman Brian Friedman can't keep up with demand and says he is selling 20 vegetable-oil fuelled cars a week. His shop, just east of Hollywood, is called Love Craft and is overflowing with 100 mostly late 1970's to early 1980's Mercedes diesel cars waiting to be converted.

"The technology is not new -- but cars fueled by vegetable oil have become a big hit in Los Angeles. As NPR's Amy Walters reports, one L.A. businessman is finding a ready market for used diesel Mercedes he converts to run on veggie-power."

Click to listen to the interview.

Easy Being Greasy

Al Gore getting to you? Does the combo of global warming and soaring gas prices have you looking for transportation alternatives that don’t require carpooling—or the use of a token?

It’s Lovecraft Biofuels to the rescue. Located in trendy Sunset Junction, the company is converting Mercedes-Benz diesel engines to run on vegetable oil. The overhaul can be done in the time it takes you and a pal to down a few cool ones at the neighboring 4100 Club.

Using Vegetable Oil To Run Your Car? 

If you're looking for some cheap fuel for those summer vacations, you don't have to look any further than your kitchen cabinet. There's now an alternative that's gaining popularity.

Grease lightning 

Tess Vigeland 

Lovecraft is a biofuel conversion shop just outside downtown LA. For $700, they'll take your old Mercedes and make it run on soy bean, canola, whatever you choose. Brian Friedman started the company.

BRIAN FRIEDMAN: It's a fairly simple, maintenance-free system. You can use it as a daily drive or to get to work and back reliably. There's nothing you have to really learn to drive it.

More than a dozen '80s vintage Mercedes sit in the lot awaiting conversions. It takes four hours, and Lovecraft does about five a day. Ben Harrison and his son Caleb picked theirs up this week, and were headed home to Elkmont, Alabama.

BEN HARRISON: We bought a Mercedes from a gentleman who
had sold Mercedes on eBay. So we flew out here last night, picked
up the car, Brian had already converted it to veggie oil. We're on
our way back.
VIGELAND: And what's the cost benefit for you?
HARRISON: Well, at $3 a gallon, diesel, you're looking at $60 to
fill up a tank versus pennies of the waste vegetable oil.
The warranty on Harrison's 1982 car expired long ago. Most recent
diesel cars in the US come from Volkswagen, and the warranty
could be a problem. They only allow biodiesel, not pure veggie oil,
and then only a 5 percent formulation.
Ben Calderwood and Josh Tickell, using a 100 percent
concentration, wouldn't qualify.
Bio fuel users don't get any insurance breaks. No tax breaks yet,
either, those are reserved for hybrids.
Of course, most people who run biodiesel will tell you they're not
doing it for purely economic reasons. They say the true costs of
fossil fuel are far greater than what you pay at the pump.
In Los Angeles, I'm Tess Vigeland for Marketplace Money.

Powering up a car with vegetable oil rather than gas

By JULISSA McKINNON, Register Staff Writer

Not only do Autumn Chute and Moxie Stratton get their gas for free, but their car exhaust smells like comfort food -- French fries or egg rolls, sometimes fish and chips. It depends what food was fried in the vegetable oil before they pump the fluid into their fuel tanks. It's been two months since the 29-year-old college students from Napa converted their '80s-era Mercedes Benzes to run on vegetable oil instead of diesel.

Veggie car market revs up

By PAUL CHAVEZ, Associated Press (ASAP)

LOS ANGELES _ Daniel Hug recently paid $7,000 for a dark blue 1983 Mercedes Benz 300TD
turbo diesel station wagon with 147,000 miles on it.
The attraction for the art gallery owner was the car's specially converted engine that runs on
vegetable oil.

''Living a green lifestyle generally has been something that only the wealthy or middle class can do,''
said Hug, 37. ''I'm not particularly wealthy or anything, but this is accessible.''
Thanks to customers like him, business is brisk at LoveCraft Biofuels -- a used car lot crammed with
converted Mercedes-Benz diesels on a trendy stretch of Sunset Boulevard. The veggie vehicles
have been embraced in car crazy Los Angeles by drivers who have cited concerns about the
environment, the skyrocketing price of gasoline and the reliance on Middle East oil as reasons for
buying the cars.

A Car Can't Run On Veggie Oil...Can It?

On Wednesday, April 19th, Los Angeles is invited to come take a peek at cars with "Wessonality"... vegetable-oil-powered automobiles. A representative from LoveCraft Biofuels will be on hand to explain how to convert any diesel-powered vehicle into one powered by biofuels (such as vegetable oil). And he'll give us a look under the hood.

Hollywood's Biodiesel Engine Maker

By now TreeHuggers are familiar with the endearing love of biofuel touted by Daryl Hannah and Willie Nelson. But there's a new veggie-fuel fan in tinsel-town, Ms. Mandy Moore. According to Bloomberg news Ms. Moore "had her car adapted to run on pure vegetable oil or the filtered leftovers from restaurant deep fryers." She is one of the growing number of clients bringing their diesel engines to LoveCraft BioFuels for some veggie-fication. It is a growing biz getting' sweeter by the minute according to owner Brian Friedman "It's crazy right now… I can't take half the business that comes in. Every month, business at least doubles, sometimes even quadruples." Thank you from our fantabulous tipster! Via: The Business Journal

Los Angeles Drivers Put Cars on a Veggie Diet for Cleaner Air

Mandy Converts!

The celebrities and local entrepreneurs embracing vegetable- based fuels may be pointing automakers including Toyota and Volkswagen toward the future. Their switch may be copied by other motorists in Los Angeles, which tends to be on the leading edge of trends that go
statewide. The shift also could help clean up the skies of Los Angeles, the smoggiest U.S. city last year. `With movie stars endorsing this, demand may go up,'' Phil Gott, director of automotive consulting at Global Insight Inc., an economic forecasting company in Lexington, Massachusetts, said in an interview. ``It may cause vehicle manufacturers to offer a broader range of cars.'' Biodiesel can range from fuels based on 100 percent vegetable or animal fats, thinned with alcohol, to fuels containing as much as 90 percent petroleum products, under California's classification. Hannah's El Camino uses B100, which usually is derived from soybeans and other crops and can be used in diesel engines without modification.