July 4, 2008 Restaurant operates solely on vegetable oil Play video

(Peter Howe, NECN: Concord, NH) - One New England restaurant celebrated July Fourth with a commitment to saving the environment.

The Red Blazer restaurant in New Hampshire's capital opened for the holiday. But they marked Independence Day by declaring energy independence. For the whole two-hour lunch rush, they shut off the until electric connection and fired up the diesel generator. However it is not diesel that's keeping the lights on. The oil supply comes from the fryolator.

Before the fryolator oil can be burned as fuel, it has to be filtered to clean out crumbs from onion rings and fried clams, then it can replace heating oil or diesel.

Vegetable oil has huge potential as a fuel source. It's estimated the US produces 3 billion gallons a year of waste vegetable oil. Theoretically, once cleaned enough fuel to heat 3 million homes a year or fuel 7 million diesel cars.

NECN's Peter Howe reports.