Wood, Twigs, Vegetable Oil - “Anything But Petroleum” Fuels This Road Rally
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Oct 13, 2008
On Saturday, five teams began the Escape From Berkeley, maybe the world’s most eco-friendly motor race, driving all manner of alternative-fuel-burning jalopies, roadsters, and even a frying oil-fueled Mercedes-Benz, with a single goal: to complete the race using no petroleum.
The final catch of the race is that participants — artists, environmentalists and even a cattle farmer from Alabama — have to find or scavenge their go-go juice, whether it is used vegetable oil from restaurants or twigs and sticks from the side of the road. All the vehicles, which had to be street legal, were allowed to start with a single gallon of whatever fuel they used.
The race’s route also presented some challenges, running from the relatively mild terrain of the Bay Area, across the Sierra Nevada via the Tioga Pass (elevation 9,943 feet) and through the deserts outside Las Vegas.
Jim Mason, the founder of Shipyard Labs, the event’s sponsor, said the race was meant to encourage creative thinking about alternative energy. “We want to transfer it from an engineering problem to art,” Mr. Mason said.
Wayne Keith’s adapted lime-green Dodge Dakota pickup burns wood in a pair of burners in the pickup bed and uses the gases created by the combustion — primarily hydrogen and carbon monoxide — to drive the engine. He said the ready availability of scrap wood on his farm made his energy expenses almost nil.
Mr. Keith said the truck’s top speed is about 90 miles per hour, making it a favorite to win the race. Not so for Mr. Wedlock, 24, and his racing partner, Mike Gittelsohn, 54, who spent about $3,000 to build their recumbent bicycle, complete with an engine better suited for a weed whacker.
Jack McCornack, part of the Prisoners team and the owner of Kinetic Vehicles, a maker of alternative cars in Cave Junction, Ore., said his roadster could go 72 m. p.h. — and get 70 miles to the gallon — using nothing but vegetable oil.
“It’s extremely no-frills,” Mr. McCornack said of his car, which has no windows or doors. “It’s everything you always wanted in a sports car, and less.”
