For The Prague Post

People cope differently with soaring oil prices: Some work overtime, others walk or bike to work. Stanislav Miler heads to McDonald's.

There, and at other restaurants, he collects used vegetable cooking oil to fuel his two-tank white Fiat Ducato van-cum-mobile home. The environmentally conscious filmmaker and multimedia producer is living his dream of traveling the world, as cheaply — and environmentally friendly — as possible.

A friend put him on to vegetable oil.

"He e-mailed me, saying he was traveling across America in his new car with added oil filters and tanks to accommodate vegetable oil," Miler says, sitting in the back of his van drinking tea. "It really inspired me to do this."

Miler converted his van two years ago, adding a new veggie oil tank and buying a conversion and filtration kit and pump at a total cost of 20,000 Kč ($928). He feeds this second tank 130 liters (34 gallons) of vegetable oil, which is in addition to the 25 liters of diesel he carries in the original tank. (The car must be started and run for a few minutes on diesel fuel to heat up the normally thicker vegetable oil before switching over to it.)

Miler, 41, has been enjoying the free greasy miles of Europe's highways ever since. Last year, he launched his Eco Journeys project, traveling on and promoting vegetable oil while collecting the life stories of people he met. "In 27 days, I drove through Slovakia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Montenegro, Croatia and Austria," he boasts.

He used a wide range of oil on his 4,000-kilometer (2,486-mile) journey: 350 liters of used vegetable oil, 20 liters of bio diesel, 10 liters of diesel and 40 liters of new vegetable oil. The best used oil, he says, comes from McDonald's.

"Compared to other fast-food places, I find it of a better quality and not too old. ... They generally seem to have good standards," he says.

Miler steers clear of fish restaurants. "You don't want to drive in a fishy-smelling car," he says.

While it may be environmentally conscious, this is not the easiest way to travel. It takes time for Miler and his traveling companions to filter the used oil and fill the tank, more than an hour in most cases.

But paying almost half the price of gas makes it worth it.

An emerging industry

If Miler seems environmentally idealistic, he is not alone. In recent years, a new genre of business has sprung up to cater to customers like Miler who want alternatives to regular gas.

Tomáš Volný started his car conversion company, RapidOil, two years ago. His first converted car was Miler's. He describes himself as an "anarchist," and is proud of having since converted more than 250 cars to run on vegetable oil.

Volný also collects and sells used and new vegetable oil, mainly for his other company branch in Slovakia, where the government has already legalized the sale of used and new vegetable oil for motor fuel. Every month, he sells Volný Slovakia more than 150 metric tons (165 short tons) of vegetable oil.

Another similar entrepreneur is Europecon CEO Andrej Glatz, who started doing conversions informally in 1998. In 2006, he converted more than 100 cars. Among his nearly 200 customers from the Czech Republic and Slovakia is Miler, who uses a filtration kit built by Europecon. Other customers come from Germany, where using vegetable oil for fuel is legal.

A slow Czech market

While maintenance and speed are reportedly the same for converted cars, Glatz says that only cars in good condition are eligible for conversions, because they will last longer without breaking down. He also insists on using high-quality components.

"People who cheap out on car conversions to save money do not really want to invest in their vehicles," Glatz says.

According to Tomáš Bartovský, spokesman for the Industry and Trade Ministry, the concept of converted cars has been slow to catch on in this country.

"There have been approximately 50 cars rebuilt for the usage of recycled oil until now in the Czech Republic," Bartovský says. "So it is clear that usage of alternative fuels has not developed into a matter of mass interest." That lack of interest has limited the state's investment in alternative fuels, he adds.

But the appetite for alternative energy sources is big in European markets like Germany, which offers low or no taxes on veggie oil fuel. And, just last month, Czech President Václav Klaus signed into law an amendment to the Consumer Tax Act cutting the rate for pure biofuels to zero.

Some environmentalists warn that an over-reliance on alternatives like vegetable oil could have negative impacts, such as deforestation. "In Indonesia, for example, the increasing use of palm oil has contributed to a wider deforestation," says Vojtěch Kotecký of Friends of the Earth International. "Therefore, the production of alternative car fuels needs to follow strict criteria for sustainability."

Back on the road

Miler and a few friends recently set off on a nearly three-month journey through Bulgaria to Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa. He plans to continue collecting used oil from restaurants and stories from the people he meets on his travels, all while promoting alternative and renewable energy for a new environmental documentary film.

People and governments, Miler says, need to realize that "we're running out of oil and out of options."

Finishing his tea, he offers a more measured assessment of his car crusade. "I know the use of vegetable oil can't solve all world problems," he says. "[But] by using vegetable oil instead of diesel oil to power a motor, we only release [minimal] carbon dioxide into the atmosphere ... reducing greenhouse effects.

"I found out it is very possible to collect the oil in restaurants, clean it with my filter, then use it and hit the road."

Jehan Salim-Harney can be reached at features@praguepost.com