...this classic column by Steve Ciarcia in Byte magazine from the mid-late 70's. http://books.google.com/books?id=DKajtHfqoRkC&pg=PA225&lpg=PA225&dq=ciarcia+home+alarm+story&source=bl&ots=-51QR-yF0A&sig=KJ7fYiy-dAL9RnRLBr4thoVLoVg&hl=en&ei=1uwXTL6kMJieMraWmYsL&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=true

I agree that VO and biodiesel seem like a good energy alternative. The main problem with that is most people don't own diesel cars.

I'm running my '03 VW Jetta on straight vegetable oil (waste oil that's otherwise thrown out after using it in a deep fryer). There are pictures at http://vw.ourwebstop.com

Here's an interesting article regarding how we might produce all the biodiesel necessary to replace the energy we currently import. http://ww.unh.edu/p2/biodiesel/article_alge.html