Driving and Kayaking for Biofuels in AmericasPress releaseWashington -- You might think that driving on restaurant fryer grease will not get you far. Think again. Grease got two enthusiasts of alternative fuels from the northern reaches of Alaska to Argentina.
Seth Warren, 28, a conservationist and world-class kayaker, and kayaking champion Tyler Bradt, 18, decided to prove that they can drive their truck across the two Americas -- through 16 countries -- without using a drop of gasoline or emitting much greenhouse gas.
As they developed what they call the ?Oil and Water Project,? they said, they committed to sharing their enthusiasm for and knowledge about biofuels with local communities and educating youth about alternative energy as an anchor of sustainable lifestyles.
The two set up the Biofuels Education Coalition ( BEC ), a nonprofit organization, to do just that and to use their and their sponsors? money -- about $70,000 -- to demonstrate what they believe in.
On the platform of an old Japanese fire truck converted to run on 100 percent biodiesel or vegetable oil, engineers installed containers for fuel and an oil press and equipment to process waste fryer oil and animal waste oils. The vehicle is meant to demonstrate how ordinary diesel vehicles easily and inexpensively can be modified to operate effectively on biofuels produced locally from local resources such as seeds, plants and used cooking oil.
?What we are trying to promote is self-reliance -- that farmers and other people essentially can grow their own fuel in their backyards,? Warren told USINFO from Bolivia. ?That gives people a lot of power.?
They set out in June 2006 from Dead Horse, Alaska, home to the largest oil field in the United States. By the beginning of March, they had reached Argentina.
Warren and Bradt plot their itinerary one month in advance and then try not to use maps as they follow it.
?The idea is to interact with people first by asking directions,? Warren said. ?We talk to everybody we come across.?
A broad range of people they have met on the road -- students, farmers, car mechanics, scientists and government officials -- has been receptive to their message.
?And why wouldn?t they be?? asked Warren rhetorically. ?What we are showing them is how to take trash or waste and make it into money.?
But learning is mutual, Warren said. In Colombia they were impressed by an inventive way some coffee farmers, with the help of a research group, make bioethanol from byproducts of the coffee industry, such as bean shells.
Whenever they stop, they first try to talk to local newspapers and TV stations to advertise their local demonstrations and educational meetings.
Initially, with their limited Spanish-language skills, this proved difficult. Now, after several months in Spanish-speaking countries, they are doing much better.
As a result of media attention, the two men often are treated as celebrities -- mobbed by young girls and invited to visit government officials, including the Peruvian minister of energy.
?What?s really cool about it is that, rather than sitting and talking about kayaking, we have things to say that can actually benefit the places we go to,? Warren said.
Not that they have forgotten completely about kayaking. They use every bit of free time and some weekends to seek out local rivers and paddle along them.
Back on the road, despite enthusiastic backing from local people and U.S. Embassy personnel, driving an experimental plant on the wheels can be challenging at times, Warren said.
?A lot of fuels we are using haven?t been scientifically tested and in some cases haven?t been tried at all,? he said.
For example, an African palm oil donated in Colombia solidified at high elevations in Bolivia, forcing them every morning for few days to take apart the whole system and purge all hoses.
There have been other challenges: living together in the small quarters of the truck, for example. And they have had some mishaps: Warren got malaria and was attacked and bitten by a pack of wild dogs; Bradt jumped into the water and hurt his feet when he landed on sea urchins.
They also have shared exhilarating experiences. In Bolivia they took a mountain road that steeply drops from the elevation of almost 4,600 meters to around 1,500 meters.
?We spent four hours driving down this crazy, one-lane road edged in the cliff with no room for two cars to pass,? Seth said.
After finishing their current trip, the two kayakers plan to replicate their project in Australia and New Zealand, southern Asia, Africa, Europe and the former Soviet Union, which they estimate will take the next 10 years.
With fast-food restaurants thriving in most of these regions and many farmers growing oil-producing plants, Warren and Bradt are sure they will not lack grease to fuel their adventures.
Additional information about the Oil and Water Project can be found on its Web site.
See also ?Green Bus Tour Promotes Environmental Awareness.?
For more information on U.S. policies, see Environment.
( USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov )
By Andrzej Zwaniecki
USINFO Staff Writer
Additional Information
Publisher: http://usinfo.state.gov
Labels: animal-waste, wvo
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