The generators that will be used to run Gator Growl's extra lighting and sound equipment will be fueled by locally purchased biodiesel.
The plan to buy biodiesel, a fuel made from vegetable oil, for Gator Growl came from Jeff Chenery, director of production at the O'Connell Center.
Chenery said he got the idea from Sheryl Crow's Stop Global Warming College Tour, which stopped at UF in April. Crow's tour, as well as recent Foo Fighters' concerts and the Vans Warped Tour, used biodiesel.
He said biodiesel costs about the same as conventional diesel. Gator Growl, which is Oct. 24, will probably need about 600 to 700 gallons of biodiesel this year, he said.
The fuel will come from UF's Motor Pool, which maintains UF's vehicles. Motor Pool uses biodiesel in UF's trucks, lawn mowers and other equipment with diesel engines, said Jon Priest, Motor Pool superintendent.
The biodiesel used by UF is a blend of 20 percent biodiesel, known as B20, and 80 percent conventional diesel fuel.
The fuel from the Motor Pool is purchased from Lewis Oil Co., a Gainesville-based company that has been providing oil to UF for years.
Some of the fuel for Gator Growl may also come from leftover cooking oil from UF's restaurants and dining halls.
Priest said an issue with taxes has prevented the arrangement from being completed, but there's still time.
UF graduate student Doug Renk said he has been converting the oil from campus eateries into biodiesel for about three years. He collects it from places such as the Reitz Union and Broward Dining Hall a few times a month and can turn it into biodiesel in about a week, he said.
