While some gas stations are running on empty and others are charging more than $4 a gallon for diesel, Tim Lewis smiles and said he made his own fuel for only 50 cents a gallon.
The Augusta Technical College automotive technology instructor purchased a do-it-yourself home biodiesel kit and has taught his students the ultimate way to become energy independent.
"You can make it with basic over-the-counter stuff," Mr. Lewis said.
He and his students assembled the kit and this week produced their first complete batch of biodiesel using waste oil students had left over from frying turkeys and a couple of store-bought chemicals.
"The process we use to make biodiesel is about identical to the process we use to make soap," Mr. Lewis said. "The only difference is water."
Biodiesel could be made at home in a blender, he said.
The instructor said many people will hear about this and call it hogwash, but the fact is that it works.
Ethanol, a biofuel added to gas, reduces fuel economy by 60 percent, but the fuel economy lost with biodiesel is only 10 percent, he said. Most people won't even notice.
So, is this the future?
"It's a good way to get started," Mr. Lewis said. "Foreign oil is not our future. We've got to cut our dependency on foreign oil."
Biodiesel is a green energy, completely earth-friendly and renewable, he said.
"If you want to go home and drill for oil, you're wasting your time," Mr. Lewis said, but biodiesel is much more practical. "This is the forever waves of grain country. We've got plenty of farmland."
He is assembling his own biodiesel kit at his Harlem home so he can save money on his commute to Augusta Tech.
His students also are addressing the country's energy crisis in other ways. Students have equipped their cars with hydrogen generators, which use water to help fuel the vehicles. The mason-jar contraptions add about 15 percent efficiency to engines, Mr. Lewis said.
Both biodiesel and the hydrogen generators have been around since the 1800s, Mr. Lewis said. Neither idea took off, he said, because of the abundance of crude oil.
Reach Greg Gelpi at (706) 828-3851 or greg.gelpi@augustachronicle.com.
MAKE YOUR OWN FUEL
Augusta Technical College purchased its biodiesel kit from www.homebiodieselkits.com. The Web site has a calculator that shows how much money can be saved by producing diesel, rather than buying it, so consumers can determine whether it is worth making their own fuel.
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