Brisbane, May 21 : Gas bills burning a hole in your pocket? Well, then try running your car on vegetable oil just like Sydney-born civil engineer, Gerard Mimmo and his English wife, Rachel.

What’s more, you will not only save up on a lot of your hard earned money if you do this, but you’ll also help the environment by producing fewer carbon emissions.

Mimmo and Rachel have outfitted a six-cylinder diesel Toyota Landcruiser to run on vegetable oil.

They have dubbed their Landcruiser, the "Battered Fish", because that is what is smells like as it powers along.

Gerard explains they have done very little modifications to their standard diesel 4WD.

"Well first of all you have to have a diesel engine to use vegetable oil," the Brisbane Times quoted him, as saying.

"And you can install a heat exchanger, so your coolant from your engine comes through one side and your oil comes through the other side,” he added.

This allows the oil to be heated, so it becomes as viscous as diesel and the fuel injectors pump it through the engine.

The rear tank containing the vegetable oil runs separately to the front tank, which holds the diesel fuel.

They start the car using diesel fuel before switching over to the vegetable oil once it has "warmed up".

"There's a solenoid in there that switches between the diesel and the vegetable oil," Gerard said.

"With a cold engine you have to start with diesel. Once it is up to running temperature then you can switch over - which we do inside the cabin," he said.

It is not a new idea, Gerard Mimmo said, explaining how German inventor Rudolf Diesel powered his first diesel engine on peanut oil in the early 1900s. (ANI)