A Vegetable-Oil Lawn Mower

By Erik Skindrud

The Florida Department of Corrections has used a Sarlo mower with a vegetable-oil-powered HUGR diesel engine since 2002. Here an inmate mows while a guard supervises the operation.

HUGR Systems, Inc. of Apopka, Fla. is marketing a small diesel engine that runs with used vegetable oil. People who have used the lawn mower report that instead of acrid exhaust the machine emits a faint odor of French fries.

The technology is HUGR's attempt to build a mower without the significant emissions that accompany most other small engines.

An award for the lawn mower engine, which has been used with pressure-cleaning and carpet-cleaning equipment, was presented by the Central Florida Clean Air Team in 2004.

HUGR's engine is mounted on a walk-behind mower built by Sarlo Manufacturing, Inc. of Ft. Myers, Fla. The machine is one of a growing number of low and zero-emissions lawnmowers and landscaping-related equipment being manufactured as concern mounts over the harmful byproducts of traditional lawncare.

The problem is greatest in geographically-confined settings like Los Angeles and Denver, where mountains hem smog in. According to California's South Coast Air Quality Management District, there are 89 million gas lawnmowers and related equipment in the U.S., with 4.6 million in California. Almost all of those mowers are highly polluting, the agency says, with one machine producing as much pollution in an hour as 40 cars.

The market for low and zero-emission mowers is likely to grow. The California Air Resources Board, or CARB, has a plan to reduce small engine emissions. In 1999, the body set rules requiring new mowers to meet reduced emission standards, with plans calling for an additional 74 percent improvement by 2010.

Zero-emission electric mowers are currently manufactured by Black & Decker and Ransomes Cushman Ryan Corporation, which offers a large electric riding mower suitable for golf courses. Exmark manufactures a zero-turn mower with a diesel engine, and most manufacturers offer mowers that meet California's CARB II requirements.