Not all teens are caught up with video games and prowling the malls, one innovative sixteen year-old boy has taken his 1988 Mazda pickup truck and given it a new life as an electric car. Wow! Andrew Angelloti saved up a wad of $6,000 from his part time gig as a life guard and spent it on the required parts for his eco-conscious vehicle.

The process of converting the older car involved using 20 flooded lead acid batteries to create 120 volts, which he then coupled to a 60 HP 9" electric motor. The results are pretty impressive, Andrew can reach speeds of up to 55 MPH and can travel up to 40 miles at a time from one charge. Angelloti is so smitten with his first creation that he has decided to give his handy work another go and is currently overhauling a 1992 Toyota Tercel that will out perform his current creation.

What a refreshing bit of news. Not only is this young man using his time and talents in a productive manner but he is doing good things for the planet. A great example of some serious DIY initiative and teens everywhere!

Although I've heard of using leftover cooking oil for biodiesel fuel production, the idea seemed out of reach for many homeowners (or even small restaurants and fast-food joints) who would love to turn a trashed item into a revenue producer or fuel for something else.

If you're into investigating this premise completely, there are apparently several resources that will teach you how to refine that used cooking oil into an alternative fuel for use in, well, whatever. Have a need to run an engine on biodiesel? This may be worth looking into, once you've done the math on return on investment.