The idea of running your car on free fuel would probably get most of us revved up. A group of college kids are making it happen. Only they decided to use something bigger than a car.
The Big Green Bus rolled through town Sunday as part of it's nationwide tour. Energy efficient and environmentally sound-- the original concept was developed by a group of college kids. "It was actually a group of Dartmouth ultimate Frisbee players that wanted to get across the country on a budget," says student David Peterson.
The tradition lived on. Now three buses later-- Dartmouth students are proud to reveal the ultimate eco-friendly ride.
"You can see there's really thick insulation."
It's full of energy efficient appliances-- table tops made from recycled material-- bamboo flooring.
And then there's the fuel. Gallons and gallons of used vegetable oil.
"So we start the bus on biodiesel and we get everything running so it starts to heat the oil. Once it gets thin enough just like diesel then we just flip a switch and it runs perfectly fine," explains Peterson.
The oil runs through each of these three filters and once it's all refined-- these guys can get six to eight miles on one gallon of vegetable oil.
Students fill up at nearby restaurants that gladly hand over the used oil.
"We have like our diesel tank which holds a little over a hundred gallons and then we have our vegetable oil tank which holds around two hundred gallons, says" Peterson
As students wrap up their 30-city, 12,000-mile tour.
The engine still purs.
Students say the first diesel engine ran on peanut oil, so they can use the vegetable oil without making a lot of changes to the engine.
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