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Seth Warren
(left) & Tyler
Brandt (right)
Photo credit -
Woods Wheatcroft
/
www.Woodswheatcroft.com
When people
talk about the
skyrocketing
cost of
gasoline,
they’re not just
talking about
fuel prices in
the United States it’s
worldwide. To
make matters
worse, questions
are also
springing up
regarding how
much fossil fuel
usage may, or
may not, be
contributing to
escalating
global temperature.
Figuring out who
should be
getting us
out of this mess
is a matter of
opinion and fuel
for debate; some
people believe
the government
should do
something to lower the cost
of crude oil,
while others
think it’s the
automobile
manufacturers
who need to
make a more efficient
vehicle. Still
others take
matters into
their own hands;
driving less,
carpooling or
using public
transit. I, myself, like to
ride the
bicycle.
Then there are the rarest of breeds - like Seth Warren and Tyler Brandt -
who go their own
way; doing the manufacturers’
job for them. |
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Warren and Brandt
are two pioneers in the
growing use of an
alternative fuel called
Biodiesel. A
domestically-produced, renewable fuel,
Biodiesel is typically a
mixture of 80% regular
diesel and 20% oil
extracted from
vegetables. According to
the Environmental
Protection Agency,
burning this concoction,
known as B20, results in
a 12% reduction in soot
and carbon monoxide and
a 20% reduction in
hydrocarbons.
Hydrocarbons are known
as cancer-causing agents
and many scientists have
linked their
release to global
warming. Biodiesel can
also be used in its pure
form, called B100,
resulting in even
greater reductions of
harmful emissions.
The use of Biodiesel is starting to catch on, but, with all that science,
many would-be users need
proof that it works.
That’s where Warren and
Brandt come in.
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The two professional
kayakers recently acquired and
retrofitted a used Japanese fire
truck; and, with the help of a
few Sandpoint welders, morphed
what was once a water expelling
(gas guzzling) life saver into a
vegetable oil producing,
earth-friendly touring vessel.
The vehicle, which can itself run on
the fuel it produces, now holds
a 200 gallon
seed hopper that feeds seed into
a champion
juicer-like press, squeezing out
oil for one of
the two fuel tanks. It also
features a fold-out
platform for sleeping, as well
as a movable spiral staircase to
a stage-like roof where kayaks
and other gear are stored.
Manhattan, New York - Earth
Day/Green Apple Festival. Photo
credit - Dunbar Hardy /
www.dunbarhardy.com
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Today, with help from
the Biofuels Education
Coalition, Warren and Brandt are
taking their show on the road.
Called “The Oil and Water
Project”, they’ve presented the
vehicle and its Biodiesel
capabilities at elementary
schools, festivals and even New
York City’s annual Earth Day
celebration. Warren and Brandt
plan to make their way to Chile,
completing the first leg of what
they hope will be a six-leg
world tour.
The objectives of the trip are simple:
1. advocate for alternative
fuels, 2. travel the world
kayaking rivers along the way,
3. create awareness and support
for the growing petroleum- free
industry.
Oddly enough, while biofuel usage seems cutting edge, when we look back on two other pioneers of
automobile manufactory, Rudolph
Diesel and Henry Ford, we find
that they were advocates of
biofuels as well, including, but
not limited to, peanut oil and
ethanol.
There seems to be no end of questions and concern regarding the rising
price of fuel. It inherently
affects the prices of goods we
buy in stores and adds to the
profits of “stay the course” oil
companies.
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For biofuel advocates like
Warren and Brandt, the world’s
precarious dependence on
petroleum was made all to clear
after the devastation wrought by
Hurricane Katrina last year.
As refineries and oil rigs up
and down the Gulf Coast were
destroyed, prices surged, and,
Exxon Mobile, recently named the
world’s most profitable company,
enjoyed a windfall at the pumps.
How can we as consumers take matters into our own hands? Some of us,
fortunately, can travel around
the world using clean, renewable
fuel. Some of us can start by
sharing information about the
need to transport ourselves in
ways that
treat our lungs and our planet
responsibly.
Though the cost of Biodiesel is on par
with the current price of
regular diesel, the fact that we
can literally grow the seed here
on our own soil convinces at
least two world-class kayakers
that it’s worth exploring.
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The question for
them, and other alternative fuel
proponents, is not what other
people or organizations should
do for us, but how we can get
this boat from point A to point
B responsibly and economically.
The Oil and Water Project has now completed its National Awareness Tour
now and the traveling team will
set out to be the first to
traverse the entire length of
the Americas in a vehicle fueled
completely by non-petroleum
products.
This journey will run from Alaska
on July 1, 2006 to Chile April
1, 2007,
marking the first leg of the
World Tour.
The Oil and Water Project will span six legs in the next 10 years, and
produce a global network for
Alternative Fuels Advocacy.
For more information on Seth
Warren and Tyler Brandt’s
travels go online to:
www.OilandWaterProject.com
and look for them as they drive
into a town, or paddle down a
river, near you. |
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