A man, his van, an energy plan; Vegetable oil fuels alternative vehicle.

Byline: Lynne Klaft

LANCASTER - The town observed Earth Day 2008 in style: The town administrator road his bike from his home in Worcester to town hall and the Thayer Memorial Library brought troubadour Jay Mankita and his Veggie Oil van for residents to inspect.

Both men reduce their use of fossil fuel by different means ... "I kept my promise and rode my bike from Worcester to Lancaster to reduce my carbon footprint today; the ride along the Wachusett was great. As the weather gets better I will do it more often," said town administrator Orlando Pacheco.

Mr. Mankita, of Amherst, drives his Veggie Oil van to gigs - singing, telling stories and spreading the word about sustainable living through alternative means to audiences all over New England.

"I will only use oil that has seen at least one use as a food crop. We've all heard the stories about bio-fuels, such as corn, being taken off the market as a food source, and being used for fuel, causing food shortages.

"These are inefficient crops for fuel and I disagree with their use. I support research and development of more efficient fuel crops," Mr. Mankita said.

The Veggie Oil van uses recycled waste vegetable oil from local restaurants that has been collected and filtered for food particles down to one micron.

Restaurant owners tell him that their prices for oil have doubled, another sign that the use of bio-fuels has impacted food industries, as well as prices on supermarket shelves.

"The corporate structure that is driving the bio-fuel business is the factor in the crisis; there are human costs - hunger and environmental costs - the use of more pesticides, but bio-fuels can be part of the spectrum of energy use, if done efficiently," Mr. Mankita said.

The Veggie Oil van has a Mercedes five-cylinder diesel engine and gets 22 miles per gallon. Nothing in the engine has been altered, but the fuel delivery system has been modified to accommodate the use of vegetable oil.

"You can convert any diesel vehicle with the help of a competent mechanic for $1,500 to $2,000, and yes, there are a lot of veggie oil vehicles out there now," said Mr. Mankita, who advised people to check out this Web site - www.fillup4free.com - to hook up with people who collect and filter recycled vegetable oil for fuel.

Vehicles using the recycled oil easily pass inspection, emit 90 percent less carcinogens than normal diesel vehicles and have the same carbon footprint, but a more natural, absorbable carbon, according to Mr. Mankita.

The exhaust "does smell like whatever was cooked in the oil, but I find it much more pleasant than diesel fumes," Mr. Mankita said.

Rudolph Van Diesel originally invented the diesel engine to run on vegetable oil, but his patent was bought and diesel fuel invented from fossil fuels to run the engine. But according to Mr. Mankita, the engine can run on any kind of oil, as long as the fuel delivery systems have been altered to handle the density of the fuels.

Cost effective? Well, at $2 and change per gallon for veggie oil, Mr. Mankita says he feels good about using a more environmentally friendly fuel. He says his next vehicle will probably be all electric and he intends to stop traveling far and wide, and lead a more "sustainable lifestyle."

Matthew Venier of Lancaster came to Mr. Mankita's show and presentation of the veggie oil van as he is contemplating converting.

"If you're a tinkerer, I think it's doable. My wife is an herbalist and she likes it on general principle and I just want to stick it to Big Oil," said Mr. Venier who uses firewood to heat his home, and only had to buy 300 gallons of oil this past winter.

"When I build my house I think I will be going geo-thermal, I'm a do-it-yourselfer and I like this idea," Mr. Venier said.

Lisa Boutotte of Lancaster is big on recycling, has watched shows about vegetable oil cars and wouldn't mind having one of her own.

"I'd love to take our house to solar ... I like saving things, instead of wasting," Ms. Boutotte said.

For more information on Mr. Mankita's educational programs, concerts, classroom visits, songwriting workshops or presentations of his veggie oil van, call him at [phone] or email him at [e-mail].

ART: PHOTOS

CUTLINE: (1) Jay Makita talks about his van, which runs on waste vegetable oil from local restaurants that has been collected and filtered. (2) Jay Mankita, who spoke on Earth Day at the Thayer Memorial Library, performs a song.

PHOTOG: LYNNE KLAFT