ORLANDO, Fla. -- One solution to the problem of skyrocketing fuel prices: don't buy it, make it.
People sick of paying the rising price of fuel are looking everywhere for a break.
Two men have found a way to never have to show up at a gas station. They are instead cleaning out grease tanks to fill up their car tanks.
"Driving by the fuel signs and see $4.30 a gallon, it's kind of nice not having to stop there and pay them that," University of Central Florida student Eric Williams said.
Williams and his friends got tired of paying at the pump.
"With the fuel prices increasing so high, it makes you notice how much you're spending on fuel," UCF student Chad Heinrich said.
They needed an idea. The mechanical engineering students cooked up a recipe by looking no farther than the University of Central Florida Chick-fil-A.
They have been draining smelly fryer grease and feeding it to their bio-diesel reactor -- a fancy name for a water heater, some pipes, valves, hoses, and filters that turn grease and two household chemicals into fuel. The newly formed fuel powers their diesel engine cars.
"To make a gallon of bio-diesel, it's about 80 cents," UCF student Michael Schulist said.
Not only cheap, the muddy looking bio-diesel burns cleaner than its petroleum-based cousin.
"Petro-diesel is a very dirty fuel. This is a very clean burning fuel," Schulist said.
It produces less CO2 -- the main threat to our climate -- than gasoline or regular diesel.
"It would limit the amount of pollution we put into the air but it would also save a lot of money," UCF assistant professor Ali Gordon said.
The students' experiment is also fueling changes at UCF. They're donating 20 percent of the fuel for five dozen trucks, lawn mowers and other diesel-powered vehicles, including a front-end loader.
UCF dumps 3,000 gallons of fuel into vehicles every year to keep them going, and at $4 a gallon, that's $12,000 a year, the school could be saving.
For as little as $1,000 for equipment, anyone can make bio-fuel too.
By some estimates, thousands of people are already doing it secretly.
They're flying under the radar because they're not paying fuel taxes.
Fuel taxes pay to build and maintain roads.
Florida law demands 29 cents per gallon of homemade fuel, but few pay it, intentionally or because they don't know the rules.
"I think if they made it perhaps simpler and more straight-forward on how to pay taxes and lowered the taxes, it would encourage more people to do it legitimately," Williams said.
Because UCF is a public university, the tax money can be reimbursed.
"It gives you a good feeling whenever you know you made your own fuel," Heinrich said.
"I can drive without having to stop at a gas station," Williams said.
Diesel fuel is currently at more than $4 a gallon. If drivers brew their own fuel at 80 cents a gallon and pay the 29 cents per gallon tax to the Florida Department of Revenue, they're still paying less than $1.10.
Drivers who brew their own fuel must pay the tax to avoid breaking the law and facing fines.
Due to overwhelming response to this story, we are unable to personally respond to every email. The chemicals used are extremely dangerous and should be treated as such. The story we just showed you was in a controlled environment under the supervision of a UCF professor. If you are interested in brewing your own fuel, check the Internet for kits from companies. One in England sells it for $1,200. Then you have to find a local restaurant willing to give you the grease. Finally, in your state, register with the Department of Revenue to make the fuel and arrange to pay taxes per gallon. Good luck, Greg Fox
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