In Warren, NH, across from the post office is a funky little gem called The Green House Restaurant.
Your first appearance does not reveal what is so unique about this friendly unique place. “We may well be the first of it’s kind – with a net metered, veggie-powered, electric Grid-Tied Biomass generator”, said Anthony Divergigelis , “We are very excited to be Net-Metering and doing this after many months of hard work & research, he continued.” They are now able to build up credits with the utility company.
The whole set up took 2+ years to build and now they are able to net meter 50 KW of power an hour – all from recycled veggie oils. Two days of running provides power for a full month at the Green House Restaurant!
Anthony’s interest in Veggie Oil actually started when he bought a Waterville Valley shuttle bus, did his own Veggie Oil conversion, and it now boasts 23,000 miles, all on veggie oil!
“During that time i thought, Gee, that’s a lot of power behind my trusted bus and after we made it back to NH, i started my next project using veggie oil: I have created a 50 KW BIOMASS generator (VEGY OIL) that we now use here at the Green House Restaurant among other locations. This means that the generator is portable. It is now providing power to festivals throughout out the summer, with the first one being the 16th Annual Jerry Jam (off the grid), in Bath NH. They had an excellent turn out, including 22 vendors, stage, sound, light shows , two big ice machines, for which he provided 100% of the power for.
To transport the diesel generator, he built a portable trailer with enclosure, from all recycled materials. This affords him the ability to rent this Veggie Oil powered generator for music festivals and events “off the grid”.
Vegetable oil offers similar performance as petroleum diesel, but with fewer polluting emissions. Veggie oil also leaves behind a more pleasant alternative to the black cloud of diesel engine smoke.
“The very first diesel engine was actually built to run on peanut oil”, says Divergigelis. “Vegetable oil burned as fuel does not emit sulfur dioxide (SO2), a main compound in diesel. We do not use bio-fuel. We use straight veggie oil.
But the uniqueness does not stop here. The exquisite flower beds in front of the building are cared for by a neighbor in this small town in New Hampshire. When you enter the restaurant, into a tastefully decorated restaurant, you will find that everything you see has been recycled! There are way too many novelties to mention, but worth the stop to browse around and to enjoy a wonderful meal, made completely from scratch. If you stick around on Thursday or Friday nights, you will be treated to some local music, to top the night off with. As we discussed the sign on the front of the building and that the building is not green colored, the owner made sure to point out that the “new roof is white, which makes it green because it helps to keep it cooler inside”. If you happen to be going through this little town, be sure to stop by.. and even if you are not going that way – it is definitely worth the short drive over to see what it’s all about.. Tell them we sent you!
GET Aug2011 page 36
Sadly I haven’t been to The Green House Restaurant in a few months but I must say that it is a wonderful music venue and the food, service(people) and atmosphere are top notch. Just love their chicken alfredo and broccoli pizza.