Good Stuff

I wouldn’t dare try this with Evinrude Oil!

“Duane Johnson may have developed the world’s cleanest motor oil. He is so sure of the safety of his product that he submits it to an unusual test: he eats it. “When I go to meetings and have an engine running on this stuff, I’ll pull the dipstick out and lick it.” Petroleum-based motor oils cause a significant amount of the pollution a car releases, says Johnson, an agronomist at Colorado State University. His motor oil, made from canola and other vegetable oils, not only produces no air pollution of its own but cuts overall engine emissions by up to 30 percent.

Johnson’s motor oil is easy to make. He heats canola seeds and then crushes them to release the oil. He then mixes in small amounts of other oils, including sunflower, soybean, and castor oil to get the right consistency. “This is tabletop technology,” he says. “We use a paint mixer to mix it and it’s ready to go.” ”

–From Discover Magazine 08-01-1998