Alternative energy edition - cars that run on used vegetable oil. Natural gas from manure.
I first got to know Nick Pisca and Glenn Wienke in 2006. I'm not sure how I learned about their project, converting a 1981 Mercedes 30TD station wagon with nearly 300,000 miles on it to run on used vegetable oil. But I'm not surprised; things like that tend to get around in a town like Wausau.
Glenn converted the vehicle. With some modifications, a diesel engine can run on waste vegetable oil if it's the right temperature and filtered. It's a simple concept, but really complicated to pull off. Nick and Glenn's girlfriend were skeptical. He responded in true Wisconsin fashion: "I had two people tell me I couldn't do something," Glenn said. "So I did it."
Since then both Glenn and Nick have converted several diesel-burning vehicles to run on waste vegetable oil, including their daily drivers and vans that they have driven into the nooks and crannies of North America.
These two exemplify a particular strain of Wisconsiny spirit. They are thrifty, self-reliant problem-solvers who mix a whacky joie de vivre into what they do.
► These Wisconsin natives laugh at record high gas prices. Their cars run on used vegetable oil. *For subscribers*
Here are a couple more similar stories, about farmers using manure to generate power and a couple who are helping people across the state harness solar power:
► 'The poop is worth a lot': State's largest dairy farmers are cashing in by converting methane from cow manure into natural gas *For subscribers*
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There's a reason there's a sailor on our state flag...
We love the water, and not just nearby lakes and rivers. Many Wisconsinites have wandering souls (See Nick and Glenn, above) and some of us end up exploring the seas across the world.
Cody Umentum started wandering after visiting Belize and studying abroad in Germany. He just kept on going after school. Here's the tale of how he ended up on TV and fishing for crab in the frigid waters of the Bering Sea.
Tim Jacob went from Sheboygan to the bottom of the world where he was part of the team that found the famous explorer Ernest Shackleton's ship, the Endurance.
Snow shoveling killed him. Seven times. He bounced back.
Oh my gosh. This story is incredible. Thank you medical workers everywhere.
This state is for the birds
Another saving a bird story! Because that's what we do in Wisconsin. Good video, too! I suspect this will be an ongoing Be Wisconsin theme.
► An Ozaukee County deputy's body camera video shows an injured bald eagle being rescued in Fredonia
Didja know? A Wisconsin fact drop.
Two famous writers with Wisconsin roots were Wilders. Laura Ingalls Wilder's book "Little House in the Big Woods" was based on her life in Pepin, where she spent her early childhood years.
Author and playwright Thornton Wilder was born in Madison in 1897. He won three Pulitzers, for his novel "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" and the plays "Our Town" and "The Skin of Our Teeth."
They were not related and I'm going to change my last name to Wilder.
Sources: "Wisconsin Trivia: Weird, Wacky and Wild" and thorntonwilder.com.
Contact Keith Uhlig at 715-845-0651 or kuhlig@gannett.com. Follow him at @UhligK on Twitter and Instagram or on Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Alternative energy: Running cars on WVO. Manure into natural gas
