As it pulled away from the curb, Wing Zone's new delivery vehicle left a puff of exhaust that smelled faintly like something was cooking.

And it was.

Alexander Acosta/AJC (ENLARGE)

Ecological Creations President Oren Kleinberger shows how the oil is filtered and processed.

Alexander Acosta/AJC (ENLARGE)

Kleinberger pumps refined vegetable oil into the delivery truck.

Alexander Acosta/AJC (ENLARGE)

Wing Zone owners Adam Scott (left) and Matt Friedman unveil their new delivery truck.

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Vegetable oil at the Marietta franchise is going from the fryer to the fuel tank.

The local company, which has 120 franchises nationwide, demonstrated its first "wing powered" delivery vehicle Monday. The 2005 Jeep Liberty runs on recycled vegetable oil once it gets an initial boost from diesel to reach operating temperature.

The car gets 20 to 25 miles per gallon and can go as fast as regular gas-powered cars.

The cost: about 64 to 67 cents a gallon to cover local and state highway taxes after start-up costs of about $1,000 for the filtration equipment and $4,000 for converting a diesel-powered car.

Matt Friedman, who founded Wing Zone in 1991 with Adam Scott at the University of Florida, got the idea about four months ago. He saw an article about someone arrested for taking cooking oil from a Burger King in California to power his personal vehicle.

Friedman immediately saw the possibilities for his business, which is known for its 25 flavors of Buffalo chicken wings.

"We obviously have a substantial amount of cooking oil after it's past its usable life," he said, "and, obviously, we're in the delivery business."

Wing Zone said it typically throws away 220,000 gallons of used vegetable oil each year and will save about 190,000 gallons of gasoline each year.

"You can see how quickly that pays itself back," Friedman said.

Wing Zone employees dump the oil, which is Crisco professional brand that costs more than $6 a gallon, into a strainer to get out the large debris.

A hose is dropped into the oil before turning on the pump. With a loud whine, the oil is filtered to one micron absolute.

"So, we're putting really clean oil into the vehicle," said Jeff Daughenbaugh, director of construction and research and development.

The oil sits in a storage tank until the car needs a fill-up. A hose with a nozzle is run out the back door to fill the 30-gallon tank behind the back seat.

Wing Zone executives have been driving the car for about four weeks and want to see how it goes before converting at least one vehicle at each of the other franchises from Seattle to New York.

A franchise uses about 35 to 40 gallons of cooking oil a week, and Wing Zone had been letting a recycling company take it.

"We have to look at different alternative fuels," said Daughenbaugh said. "The government's not going to do it for us. With gas costing $4 a gallon, we've got to find ways to be innovative."

Ecological Creations Inc. of Jasper handled the conversion and will take away any excess oil.

"I don't think we're going to have any excess oil," Daughenbaugh said.