Innovative Project BioBus Keeps on Truckin'

Author: Ian Fleishman

The BioBus' summer adventure began last May when 13 Middlebury students took a trip across the country in a school bus fueled by vegetable oil. The trip attracted national attention from media sources such as CNN, USA Today and Howard Stern.

"We didn't expect any recognition like we got," said Stephen Swank '05.5. "Pulling out of Middlebury it was just our own trip, and we were hoping that maybe one paper would pick it up." However, the trip, which covered 19 states altogether, attracted a great deal of attention. According to Swank, the focus of the trip changed after the group realized how much press they were already receiving from being primarily a climbing trip into a means of promoting the idea of biodiesel as a viable fuel source.

Despite group expectations there were, quite surprisingly, no major mechanical problems with the veggie-oil powered bus during the trip. Before the departure from Vermont, it already had close to 200,000 miles on the engine. "Before we left, we were wondering if we were going to make it to Kentucky," admitted Julia Proctor '06.5.

"It just cements our point: it works," explained Brian Reavey '05.5, referring to the mechanical success.

The students also had no trouble finding fuel for the bus. In the beginning the group had been concerned that restaurants may not be willing to give their vegetable oil. "Other people who did [similar projects] with cars had a hard time looking for vegetable oil," said Samuel Stevenson '05.

However, restaurants were eager to give up the oil, which they usually pay to have disposed. "The only place that we got turned down [by] was the McDonald's in Middlebury," laughed Swank.

After the trip was completed, the group members looked to sell the bus. Hot Buttered Rum Band, a high altitude blue grass band from the San Francisco area, bought the bus on e-Bay for $2,375.

The band, currently using the converted bus to tour, recently played a show in Burlington, but the students who had been involved in Project BioBus were not allowed to enter the concert because they were underage. It turned out well in the end: "They came out of the club and played outside for all of the people who could not get in," said Swank. This was the first direct contact that the band has had with the Middlebury mechanics, aside from some instructions given over the phone explaining how the bus runs.

The project members are very pleased with the new owners of the bus. Not only is the Hot Buttered Rum Band very interested in the idea of biodiesel, they are also driving the bus around and giving the project more exposure like it received over the summer months, explained Swank. The money made from selling the bus helped offset the cost of the trip, which ultimately amounted to $80 per group member.

The students involved in the trip are currently making further efforts to promote the use of biodiesel here and throughout the world. They are working on plans to repeat their project next summer, in Australia. According to Reavey, the scope of this project could potentially be much larger: "The plan is not going to be a climbing trip, it is going to be a trip to spread the word." As many automobiles in Australia are already run on diesel fuel, Reavey sees the conversion to biodiesel as "a real viable option."

The group is currently looking into grants and other possible methods of sponsoring the Australia trip, which would hopefully be made in a double-decker bus.

Closer to home, there are also a few cars on campus that now run on vegetable oil, which were converted by Thomas Hand '05.5. One advantage to converting is the money saved on gasoline. Hand's car, for example, is fueled by The Grille.