Jared Woodcock ’06 explains how the converted system works to PSU Professor Len Reitsma. Reitsma owns one of the vehicles Woodcock converted to bio-diesel for the KTM workshop.

Growing up on a farm in New York state, Jared Woodcock ’06 became a skilled mechanic at an early age. He learned to weld in elementary school, and as a teenager, he helped his father repair tractors and farm equipment. Woodcock’s rural childhood also gave him a deep appreciation for the environment, and the sometimes fragile relationship between humans and the land. As an environmental biology major at Plymouth State University, Woodcock has been able to combine his skills in mechanics with his interest in sustainable living through explorations of bio-fuels.

Woodcock already has plenty of experience in community outreach and advocacy for sustainable living. In the spring of 2006, he led a workshop on engine conversion for two dozen people at KTM Auto in Plymouth, during which he converted two diesel vehicles—a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta and a 1983 Mercedes—to run on vegetable oil. The workshop, sponsored by D Acres Organic Farm and Educational Homestead of Dorchester, was a great success, said Woodcock: “We had a lot of people interested in converting their cars.”

Bio-fuels, unlike gasoline and other fossil fuels, are considered renewable energy sources because they come directly from plants. There are several types of bio-fuels that can be used to power diesel vehicles. Woodcock uses SVO, or straight vegetable oil, to run his engines. Rather than chemically converting the fuel before using it in a vehicle, as users of bio-diesel need to do, SVO users can pour regular vegetable oil into their gas tanks after going through the fuel system conversion process. Other bio-fuel users prefer processed bio-diesel, which can be used in a diesel-run car without altering the fuel system.