Southampton Sustainability Forum

On 26th August, Andy and Esther arrived in Athens after nine days driving in a car powered by waste cooking oil. “We have arrived in Greece with nothing but grease!”

This exploit was part of the Grease to Greece challenge – the aim was to get all the way from London to Athens without using fossil fuels. Participants used either normal or slightly modified diesel cars that were adapted to using vegetable oil as a fuel.

As the drivers made their way through Germany, Austria, Italy, Croatia and into Greece, they made pit stops at various chip shops and restaurants, convincing the owners to donate their waste cooking oil.

To be used as a fuel, the waste oil must be filtered then put in a centrifuge to remove food particles. The end product is referred to as biodiesel.

“The oil gets very hot and so it gets very thin. And then it goes into the centrifuge where it spins around and because it is very thin, it separates all the water and all the food remains. And all the clean oil comes out the bottom.”

Andy has travelled more than 2,000 miles (3,200km), using about 45 gallons (200 litres) of chip fat. His car has been doing more than 40 miles to the gallon, which he claims is better than normal diesel. And he has also saved more than 350 euros (£300) in petrol station bills.

“Hopefully, it will give people a bit of confidence to try alternative fuels, maybe using bio-diesel or converting their cars to vegetable oil,” he says.

“When I first did it I was really nervous that I was going to wreck my car. But I am now confident that it is a really viable alternative. As far as my driving life is concerned, I really can’t see why I would want to buy any fossil fuel ever again.”

Next year Andy plans to circumnavigate the globe with a mixture of cars, boats and planes.

And the aircraft, he says, will be powered by aviation fuel made from plastic bags.

Using biofuels
Waste cooking oil is an example of second generation biofuel. It is known as biodiesel since it only works in diesel-powered cards. Because it is re-using a waste product, its impact on the environment is greatly diminished. It is also a lot cheaper. Other examples of second generation fuels are bioethanol from waste crop (e.g. corn stalks that are cut down in harvest but not used in agricultural production).

On the other hand, first generation biofuels are controversial because they require a lot of energy to produce them in the first place. So the amount of saved CO2 varies with the type of crop and cultivation method.
First generation biofuels have also been partly responsible for the increase in price for certain foods, as they take up agricultural land that could be used for growing food instead. They may also threaten biodiversity as they are grown in monocultures and encourage the destruction of natural habitats for farmland.

How can I save money on fuel?

Many companies like Greenfuels, smartveg or Oily Bits provide home equipment to convert waste oil into fuel for your car. Although this requires a bit of car mechanics savvy, you can find more information on how biodiesel works here. Also see Future Fuels based in Fareham who offer further advice on converting to biodiesel as well as selling equipment.

Similiar challenges already exist such as the Chocolate-Powered Biotruck Expedition.

You can also buy a hybrid fuel/electric car to decrease your consumption of fossil fuels.

The consumption of fossil fuels in cars is one of the major sources of human CO2 emissions. Cutting down your use of fossil fuels saves you money and helps protect the environment by preventing global warming and climate change.

The world’s leading cork maker has launched a campaign against the increasing use of screw caps and plastic stoppers in wine bottles, which it says is a threat to Portugal’s forests of cork oaks.

Portugal’s company Amorim Corticeira argues that using only cork stoppers would ensure the survival of the forests and sustain their unique ecosystems, home to several endangered animal species such as the Iberian lynx.

Portugal is the world’s largest cork producer. Amorim does not grow the trees itself but buys cork from producers.

Cork oaks are not cut down but their bark is harvested every nine years in a tree’s lifespan.

The campaign (www.savemiguel.com> followed a study by the WWF in June urging Portugal to expand its cork forests to prevent growing desertification caused by global warming.

The proportion of cork stoppers in wine bottles had fallen to 70 percent from 90 percent in 12 years.
It is important to sustain demand for cork to maintain the largest natural forest in Western Europe and therefore getting back to the 90-to-95-percent mark is unlikely because of stiff competition, particularly from screw caps.

Amorim’s campaign is aimed at all ages but particularly young users of popular websites such as Facebook and YouTube. It also blends pro-environment and sustainability ideas with the humour of American comedian Rob Schneider, the star of “The Animal” and “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo. In the campaign video, Schneider travels to Portugal on a mission to “save Miguel” -a cork oak tree in the heart of the cork-growing region.

Things you didn’t know:

• Harvesting cork bark assists in the absorption of CO2 a greenhouse gas that causes climate change.

• Harvested cork trees absorb 3-5 times more CO2 than non-harvested tree’s. Cork trees in Portugal alone help offset 4.8 million tons of carbon every year.

• Cork stoppers are made from the bark of a cork oak tree, not the tree itself. Bark is harvested from the tree every 9-12 years. Each time cork is harvested, cork bark regenerates itself (and in doing so absorbs CO2).

• Cork trees live between 100 and 300 years.

As part of Make A Difference Day, a litter pick event will be held in the Polygon area of Southampton between 10 am and 2pm on Saturday 25th October. This event is jointly run by Solent University and the SSF – we will be meeting at the Central Baptist Church on Devonshire Road. Equipment and lunch will be provided!

Make a Difference Day is a chance for you to make a difference in your community by organising or taking part in a project with friends, family, your workplace or place of worship. To find out more about Make a Difference Day click here.

For further information about the litter pick please contact Claire.