Tech Topics - Fall 2008 - (Page 31) BURDELL & FRIENDS Rabbit Runs on VEGGIE OIL Record fuel prices have allowed August grad Mark Zoller to turn the tables on those who used to laugh at his ‘clown car’ By Van Jensen W “It’s similar to driving a Ferrari. You get lots of looks and thumbs up.” hile escalating gas prices have kept many people from making long summer trips, Mark Zoller wasn’t deterred. On a 1,000mile drive to Destin, Fla., and back to Atlanta, Zoller burned through a grand total of half a gallon of diesel in his 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit. A sign stuck in the car’s rear window, right beside a Georgia Tech sticker, reveals his fuel-saving secret: “Powered by veggie oil.” “It’s similar to driving a Ferrari,” said Zoller, who graduated from Tech with a mechanical engineering degree Aug. 1. “You get lots of looks and thumbs up.” After growing up working on cars with his father, Zoller decided a couple of years ago to join the small-butgrowing faction of diesel drivers converting their vehicles to run on vegetable oil. That alternate fuel is better for the environment and, best of all, is typically free because restaurants throw it out, he said. Zoller started scouring Craigslist for a car to convert, eventually settling on the Rabbit for its meager $200 price tag. He designed the new fuel system himself, welding a 25-gallon tank for the vegetable oil into the back and adding a new valve system to the engine. He finished the project earlier this year. It’s all controlled by a toggle switch, and Zoller only has to use diesel when starting and turning off the car. “I just wanted to make it really simple and efficient,” he said. Zoller said his friends teased him about the car’s appearance at first, calling it a “clown car,” but they quit laughing when gas prices shot up and Zoller was the only one not feeling the pinch. “I think I’m the one laughing now,” he said. The Rabbit makes about 50 miles per gallon. Zoller picks up the vegetable oil from the Hall County Jail’s cafeteria, free of charge, and he can’t remember the last time he stopped at a filling station. More than just a pet project, alternative energy has become a passion for Zoller, who hopes to find a career in that field. He’s also been invited to speak on energy policy in Washington, D.C. While the infrastructure doesn’t yet exist for vegetable oil to become a viable alternative for oil, Zoller said it has strong potential. “The best feeling I get is when people see my car and wonder, ‘How is that possible?’” Zoller said. MELISSA BUGG Mark Zoller’s ’81 Volkswagen made 1,000 miles on half a gallon of diesel. TechTopics | Fall 2008 31
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