Press Kit

Photos

Full Size Photo Full Size Photo Full Size Photo Full Size Photo Full Size Photo
Web Size Photo Web Size Photo Web Size Photo Web Size Photo Web Size Photo

What is BioTour?

BioTour is a journey that aims to enliven the Sustainability Movement while exploring the depths of America—the people, land, and cultures. BioTour addresses the vital issues of climate change, environmental degradation, and peak oil while presenting pathways toward sustainability in renewable energy, active democracy, and understanding the interconnectedness of all living things.

First on an exploration of the United States, and later visiting other countries in America, BioTour visits colleges, high schools, and community events across the nation; BioTour demonstrates a tangible example of renewable energy technology, shares information about sustainable projects and practices enacted by other communities across the country, and facilitates discussion concerning local, regional, and national implementation. During the Spring 2008 Tour, BioTour will travel from the North east up and down the eastcoast, through the south, the Southwest and up through California and the Pacific Northwest on their quest to “explore the depths of America—the people, land and culture.”

As part of the group’s mission to enliven the sustainable energy movement, BioTour adventures and exploration of the cultural and natural diversity across America encourage people to break free of old patterns of thought and behavior and inspire creative action.

Get on the bus and become part of the journey into a sustainable future!

Development of BioTour:
Sustainability is the idea and practice of living in balance with life on the planet. The BioTour project takes the message of sustainability on the road in a vegetable oil-powered school bus equipped with solar panels, educating communities about peak oil, climate change, resource depletion and sustainable solutions.

In August of 2006, Ethan Burke and Alan Palm drove the 1989 Bluebird school bus from Massachusetts to Nevada for the Burning Man festival, filling up with waste fryer grease from restaurants instead of gasoline. With “vegetable oil-powered bus” painted across the hull of the old school bus and a lingering aroma of French fries in the air, the bus attracted attention everywhere it stopped. At truckstops and city sidewalks, people flocked to the bus wanting to know, “Does that bus really runs on vegetable oil?”

"We met people who were intrigued by the adventure and wanted to know more about how sustainable technology applied to their lives,” said co-director Ethan Burke, “We found that across ideological boundaries, renewable energy and sustainability are uniting issues.”

It was the reaction they encountered from people across the country that inspired Ethan and Alan to turn BioTour into more than just a cross-country adventure. They spent the next several months building a non-profit organization that travels and educates year-round, bringing a tangible example of sustainability to the lower 48 states.

Since the first cross-country journey in 2006, BioTour has continued to grow and make itself over. The bus received a new paint job and a remodel of the interior. In the Fall 2007, BioTour gained two more permanent members, photographer Jenny Sherman and booking coordinator Fernando Ausin. The journey on BioTour has meant more than just a job to the new members.

"After riding with BioTour for a couple weeks, I realized the urgency of the message we are trying to press," says Jenny. "We've seen devastating realities such as polluted waterways, destroyed moutainsides and deforestation that are direct causes of human negligence to nature."

Jenny came from San Francisco where she has seen firsthand progressive environmental acts getting passed, still only first steps in the right direction. Fernando is from Mexico and studied in the United States, and he realizes it is this country where drastic changes need to start being made.

"Coming from a country outside the U.S., I see the citizens from this country have a golden opportunity to effect positive change and become global leaders in the struggle against climate change," Fernando says.

BioTour has visited high schools, universities and community gatherings, delivering presentations on renewable energy, sustainable living, peak oil, and climate change, as well as sharing examples of sustainable projects they’ve encountered across the country, as well as tales from the road. Their goal: to spark debate and inspire action concerning the central question of our age—How do we meet human needs within ecological limits?

The challenges presented by the degradation of natural systems and inevitable decline in fossil fuel energy resources must first be met with changes in how we think and what we value. A new change in thinking will guide a conversion in practice that can extend to all aspects of society—from individual ideas and habits, to community organization, production and legislative action. BioTour’s efforts aim to inform and empower citizens to creatively apply the principles of sustainability in their own lives and communities, extending it outward to state and national government through democratic action. BioTour seeks to catalyze a shift in our national energy paradigm, pushing the issue past its tipping point into a new era of sustainability.

BioTour began with adventure and that spirit continues to guide their journey. In addition to promoting renewable energy and sustainable living, BioTour delves into small towns, big cities, national parks and hidden places across America on a journey of cultural exploration and collective self-discovery. They ask others to get on the bus and join them as them as “honorary crew members” to promote learning through experience and action through cooperation and community.

“What is at stake is the habitability of the planet,” says co-director Alan Palm. “Inaction at this moment in history is not an option. Everyone has their part to play.”

----

Join the Journey Toward a Sustainable Future.Climb aboard the BioTour bus as an honorary crewmember. Book the BioBus for an interactive educational program at your community or school! Learn more at www.BioTour.org

Fact Sheet:

- The bus runs on waste vegetable oil collected from restaurants across the country. The same stuff used to cook 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.

- An array of photovoltaic solar panels on the roof of the bus generates electricity that charges a battery bank. The battery bank is also charged by the bus alternator when driving the bus. The batteries provide electricity for lights, stereo, cell phones, laptop computers, and most other common electronic devices.

- Vegetable oil as fuel will only work in a diesel engine (the diesel engine was originally designed to run on a variety of fuels including vegetable oil). The fuel delivery system for the diesel engine must first be altered so that the vegetable oil is heated and therefore thinned. The BioTour Bus uses the waste heat from the engine to heat the vegetable oil.

- Advantages of waste vegetable oil as fuel - 1) it is a waste product that now being recycled into fuel, 2) it greatly reduces greenhouse gas emissions when compared to diesel fuel, 3) it has no sulfur (which causes acid rain), 4) it has fewer particulates than diesel fuel which causes asthma and other respiratory ailments.

- There is not enough vegetable oil to replace the 22 million barrels of oil the United States consumes each day. “There is no silver bullet to solve our energy needs, only silver buckshot.” (Lonnie Gamble, Big Green Summer Program)

About BioTour	Photos	Tour Schedule	FAQ	Press Room	Contact Us
Campaign Trail	The Issues	Ride the Bus	Links	Donate	Press Kit