Two friends challenge transport red tape

When two friends decided to go on holiday in Europe, they wanted to avoid the carbon footprint associated with air travel by using an environmentally friendly car, powered by vegetable oil, but they are hindered by the laws in different European countries.

Kenny Tucker and Marc Tauber will be driving a Mercedes 190D, which can run on waste vegetable oil from restaurants and takeaways. This is a carbon neutral form of travel that also disposes of a waste product. It is illegal in many European countries, including Belgium, despite the obvious environmental advantages.

In countries where waste oil is not allowed, the car can also run on pure rapeseed oil, such as the cooking oil available in supermarkets. This is legal in the UK, but restricted in other countries.

Kenny is the Technical Director of an environmentally conscious online payroll company, The Payroll Site Ltd, who have sponsored the car. Kenny says: “Vegetable Oil is a very green fuel, so it is a shame that European governments are obstructing its use. It will work out greener than flying, even if we do have to produce a bit more CO2 than we would have liked.”

In France and Italy it is illegal for private cars to use any kind of vegetable oil, so for these legs of the journey, the car will be run on biodiesel. Most biodiesel is made by reacting vegetable oil with methanol.

The chemicals and energy involved in this process are said to make biodiesel worse for the environment than vegetable oil. In some cases, it can be worse than using fossil fuels.

Kenny said "I'm looking forward to some spectacular scenery, especially as we cross over the Alps. We are hoping to see some of these glaciers that scientists keep talking about."

Kenny and Marc set out on 24 August and over 17 days they plan to pass through France, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. You can read about their exploits on their website at the link mentioned below. The site includes links to legal information for different European countries.

More information: www.carbon-neutral-car.com

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