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Creating a Sustainable Transportation & Energy Vision for the 21^st Century

www.AltWheels.org

COLIN MCCULLOUGH

AltWheels Regional Hero: Showing diesel-car drivers how to reduce diesel-fuel use

Colin McCullough poses on his 2000 VW Beetle,

which runs on either diesel fuel or vegetable oil.

Home: Sutton, MA
Current roles: Sole proprietor of Blackstone Piano Service, a piano-tuning business; and green

-energy enthusiast.

Greening work: With the full support and assistance of his family, Colin converts wherever possible to sustainable-energy methods, ranging from a hand-powered lawn mower to a car powered by diesel fuel and vegetable oil

Current project: Colin drives his converted veggie car, a yellow 2000 VW Beetle, and sharing information and advice on the subject with the world through his pages on the GreaseCar.com site. He bought the conversion kit from Greasecar Vegetable Fuel Systems (whose Justin Carven is another of AltWheels Regional Hero) and runs it on used vegetable oil he gets free from a local fish-and-chips joint, then filters it at home. He and his 8-year-old son, Carrick McCullough, have also taken to creating videos about his veggie car and other green issues and posting them on the Internet at www.Youtube.com/CarrickGareth. One recently won the MSN/LiveEarth award.

Inspiration: His family, his environmental conscience, and Greasecar. "As a piano tuner, I was just tired of all the gas I used driving 30,000 miles per year, from an environmental standpoint and a foreign-oil standpoint. I didn't really want to support that. My wife and I are vegan homeschoolers and we're kind of used to doing things differently."
Impact of work: “It's a real conversation starter. Even though it's not practical for most people, I get asked about it all the time. It's an example of something that runs on alternative fuel that actually works. I think it is kind of funny that we've been trying to live in an eco-friendly way for a long time. When we talked to our friends, I think they heard us but it wasn't until we got the car converted that they really listened. We went from being weird freaks to being eco-hip! People see how the car works and tell me they want to do it, too."

Economics of work: The conversion kit cost Colin about $900 and he spent another $900 to have it installed by Evergreen Motors. "I'm not very car-mechanical.” Now he collects three free 5-gallon containers of used oil from a local restaurant every week, storing it in metal drums in his garage. "I go on Fridays and just pick it up." Now he can go about 200-250 miles per gallon of regular diesel since he mainly uses it only for startups until the vegetable oil warms up. "I drive on average about 500-600 miles per week, and right through the freezing cold of the Massachusetts winter, it works great. I was going to the gas station twice each week. Now, I stop to fill up my diesel tank about once a month." A switch on the dashboard changes the car between diesel and veggie power. Warning: Not all diesel cars do well on a veggie diet, including those designed for high performance. However, don't be fooled by complaints by those who have failed at conversion because they didn't correctly follow the instructions. "It was definitely one of the best purchases I've ever made, for sure."
Useful websites: www.greasecar.com, evergreenmotors.com.