Red Tape Holds Back Drivers Using Biofuels

8 May 2008 - 7:00am

Environmentalists say laws have yet to catch up with greener fuel alternatives for cars.

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"Advocates say more than 250,000 Americans are running their vehicles on cooking oil, with the biggest concentration in California. Drivers do it for different reasons: to protect the environment, to reduce dependence on foreign oil or to save money. Those using vegetable oil say they do so for as little as $1 a gallon, even though grease yields better mileage than gasoline and about the same as diesel fuel.

Almost all of them are doing it underground... Tax authorities say biofuel drivers need to pay for using California's roads, just like everyone else, and there is no simple way to collect from those who don't go to the gas pumps, where road taxes are normally levied."

Source: Los Angeles Times, May 06, 2008