veggie-+Power+Bio+Bus

Project BioBus team from Middlebury College in Vermont have planned a 24,140 kilometre tour around the US to demonstrate the feasibility of using vegetable oil-driven busses and maintenance equipment. The students are undertaking this journey in a school bus powered solely by Biodiesel. Biodiesel is a safe, renewable, clean burning domestically-produced fuel made from vegetable oils that can be used in diesel engines without modification. Beyond trying to convince schools to consider the switch, the Project BioBus team hopes to show the public at the large benefits they see in biodiesel. (No necessary lifestyle changes drastically reduced harmful emissions, less dependence on foreign oil, and support for US farmer and related industries). Since the recent oil prices are topping $50 a barrel, the public is becoming more interested in alternative sources. The 2004 is actually the second such vehicle these students have built and road tested. A 1991 model school bus with 225000 kilometres. The bus gets an average of 3.4 kilometres per litres of biodiesel. After adding a 379 litre tank to the existing 227 litre one, the 2004 BioBus has an impressive 2092 kilometre range per fill-up. The team has already presented the bus at Columbia University and NYU in New York City, National Geographic Society Headquarters in Washington DC, Michigan State University in Detroit, and the Museum of Industry and Technology in Chicago. They are now headed for Lincoln, Nebraska. The team divides up daily duties. Tasks include driving the bus, locating fuel stops, giving interviews and presentations, researching questions posted to the Web site, and keeping in touch with staff at upcoming exhibition sites. Back To Contents
 * Vegie-Fuelled Bio bus **