The first BioTour bus traversed the USA on a trip from Massachusetts to Nevada for the Burning Man Festival in 2006. This group of young people traveled across the USA in 4 buses powered by solar power and waste fryer grease from restaurants. The busses have already traveled through 42 states, and have held more than 70 events at colleges, other schools, and community gatherings.
Five Interesting Facts:
1. My first question was how clean does waste vegetable oil burn? Their answer: It greatly reduces greenhouse gas emissions when compared to diesel fuel, it has no sulfur (which causes acid rain), it has fewer particulates than diesel fuel which causes asthma and other respiratory ailments for some people.
2. The buses run on waste vegetable oil collected from restaurants across the country. As a result, the emissions smell like french fries. The bus warms up and shuts down on biodiesel (biodiesel is chemically altered vegetable oil) or petrodiesel when biodiesel is unavailable for purchase.
