Caption: Ken Kirkland in his garage, where he produces homemade biodiesel from restaurant-used vegetable oil., Credit: Photo by Roisin Hunt
Image by: Photo by Roisin Hunt 
Ken Kirkland in his garage, where he produces homemade biodiesel from restaurant-used vegetable oil. 

Off the Grid: How to make your own biofuel

From: KALW
Length: 00:06:15

Gas prices have been dropping over the last few weeks, but a gallon of unleaded recently ran around $4.50 in San Francisco. Some people have resorted to alternative methods of transportation in a bid to cut their spending. Others have become a little more inventive. And we’re going to meet one one of them today. KEN KIRKLAND: We are trying to live off the grid, low carbon footprint and as greenly as possible. Ken Kirkland lives with his partner Judith on his family farm in Mill Valley. KALW’s Róisín Hunt joined Ken on the farm to learn how homemade biofuel is produced in this first episode of our new series “Living off the Grid.” Read the full description.
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Off the Grid: How to make your own biofuel
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KALW

Picture_1_small Gas prices have been dropping over the last few weeks, but a gallon of unleaded recently ran around $4.50 in San Francisco. Some people have resorted to alternative methods of transportation in a bid to cut their spending. Others have become a little more inventive. And we’re going to meet one one of them today. KEN KIRKLAND: We are trying to live off the grid, low carbon footprint and as greenly as possible. Ken Kirkland lives with his partner Judith on his family farm in Mill Valley. KALW’s Róisín Hunt joined Ken on the farm to learn how homemade biofuel is produced in this first episode of our new series “Living off the Grid.”

Off the Grid: How to make your own biofuel | 00:06:15

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Piece Description

Broadcast History

KALW 91.7FM: June 8, 2011

Transcript

KEN KIRKLAND: Hi I’m Ken, We are on the Woolly Egg Ranch. We are the only functioning farm in Mill Valley. We have a little two-acre plot that we’re doing the most of, and our commuting car runs on vegetable oil. This is where the garden is.

ROISIN HUNT: Ken’s family has lived on the same plot of land since the 1870s. As we walk up the driveway, I see several handmade chicken coops, the original farmhouse, a large organic garden, and several sheds and outhouses. In a corner by the garage I see several large plastic containers covered in cardboard and black plastic. Ken calls them “cubies.”

KIRKLAND: Biofuel starts here. This is vegetable oil, mostly soybean, some corn. We get from the Chinese restaurants locally and the Mexican restaurants locally.

I ask Ken why all the cubies are sitting out in the sun.

KIRKLAND: This is how you filter it. I leave it, let the sun basically beat on i...
Read the full transcript

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