Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Bio-Fueled Vehicles to Race Across the Americas

The Worldwatch Institute describes how a pack of biofuels enthusiasts will set out for a 4,500 mile (7,242 kilometer) car rally from the United States to Central America:


The Greaseball Challenge is designed to promote sustainable biofuels—including biodiesel, ethanol, vegetable oil, and recycled restaurant grease—and benefit local grassroots environmental projects. Participants will visit a variety of bioenergy projects and businesses along the way, including Combustibles Ecológicos, a Guatemala-based organization dedicated to the study and production of biofuels, Grupo Energéticos, a Mexican energy company that produces biodiesel, and Technoserve, an organization that helps poor people in the developing world create business opportunities.

Each of the rally’s five teams has purchased a vehicle “on a shoestring budget” and converted it to run on biofuels. Participants will fuel their vehicles from different sources along the way, including biodiesel producers, diners, fast-food outlets, and farms. The use of standard gasoline and other fossil fuels will be allowed only in emergencies along the entire route from Washington, D.C., through Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. All the vehicles will be donated in the destination countries to raise money for local environmental projects.



Read in full here

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