Get the next four copies of this fantastic magazine delivered directly to your door.
Always featuring numerous articles on a wide range of eco-building projects from all around the UK, most of which are written by the very people that designed or built them. It is the ideal read for architects, builders, developers, self builders and anyone interested in eco-building, including interested homeowners/clients.
|
|
|
Bus running on recycled cooking oil reaches Asia |
|
 
|
|
|
|
19 Oct 2009, 9:46 AM
|
An old bus powered by used cooking oil has succeeded in reaching Asia, less than a month after leaving London. Andy Pag, 34, a veteran overland traveller, is attempting to drive round the world in a recycled scrap yard bus, using only waste cooking oil as fuel. On Friday 16th October he crossed from the European side of the Istanbul Straits to the Asian side. Pag said “Crossing the Bosphorus is a real milestone. I’m actually quite relieved to have made it this far, but it’s only going to get tougher to find used cooking oil to fuel the bus from here on.”
|
The journey has already had its challenges, and the bus is using more fuel than expected. “It’s a bad example of a type of bus that was never particularly efficient when new.” explained Pag, “It’s noisy, uncomfortable, slow, and it smells like a bus drivers armpit, but when you are using rubbish you can’t expect too much.”
Since leaving London on the 19th of September, the bus has covered 5000km through France, Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, the Balkans and Greece to reach Turkey. In that time Pag has collected over 500 litres of chip fat and biodiesel made from used cooking oil to put in his tank.
The expedition’s CO2 is being monitored by consultants Terra-Ambiente, and onboard the Biotruck, every effort has been made to avoid fossil fuels. Cooking is on a woodgas stove, washing is with water heated bythe sun, lighting is by ultra low energy LED bulbs from the Good Energy Shop, sleeping is on an Abaca organic mattress, and the call of nature is answered on a Separett waterless composting toilet.
To get the most of every drop of fuel, Pag has fitted EcoVolt solar panels on the roof which power a Magdrive hydrogen generator, supplementing fuel with Hydrogen gas so that on sunny days the Biotruck will cover more miles per gallon. Total Vehicle Technology have serviced the engine and installed a Clean Diesel Technology Particulate Filter which reduces the exhaust emissions to that of a vehicle 1/10th its age.
After rest and repairs, the journey will continue on Tuesday. Ahead, the route will either have to contend with the insecurity in Pakistan or the cold temperatures of the Kazakhstani winter which risk solidifying the fuel into a greasy mess. Pag will make a decision on which route to take after reaching Iran.
During the journey Pag is reporting on how people around the world are addressing need to use low carbon energy through his website www.biotruckexpedition.org, and has set a CO2 emission target of 2 tonnes for his own 12 month journey, equivalent to the sustainability targets internationally agreed on for 2050.
|
|
|
|
