Home : Volume 33 : Winter 2007
Bio-bus visits Engineering Mall

Lois Rundell (left) of 2020 VISION and members of the band Hot Buttered Rum in front of the vegetable-oil-powered bus. (Large image)

A small congregation of students gathered on Engineering Mall October 23, sporting coats, hats and coffee mugs to help ward off the chill of the snowy afternoon.

At the center of attention was a large blue bus, the touring vehicle of bluegrass band Hot Buttered Rum. The open luggage compartment showcased not percussion drums, but oil drums.

Vegetable oil, that is. This bus runs on recycled fry grease.

This sustainable, clean fuel source is what prompted the new student organization 2020 VISION to invite the band to bring the bus to campus for its kick-off event. According to student Lois Rundell, regional director for 2020 VISION, the group is focused on alternative and clean energy. The group handed out information and hot chocolate at a table near the bus.

Bryan Home, bassist in the band Hot Buttered Rum, demonstrates how raw vegetable oil is pumped into the bus fuel tanks. (Large image)

According to Hot Buttered Rum bassist Bryan Horne, the band did not modify the diesel engine at all, but added tanks, filters and fuel lines for the oil. The band pulls up behind restaurants and asks them to donate their used oil, which otherwise would be thrown out. Members pump the oil directly from storage or trash containers into a 120-gallon “dirty oil” tank. The oil passes through two filters before being sent to the engine: a 30 micron filter between the ”dirty” and “clean” tanks, and a 10-micron filter between the clean tank and the engine.

“It runs the same on the oil as on diesel or biodiesel, performance-wise,” says Horne. “The main difference is viscosity.” Vegetable oil tends to be thicker than diesel fuel, and the colder it is, the thicker it gets. To solve this problem, hot water from the radiator is directed to the area around the vegetable oil tanks, maintaining both engine temperature and oil fluidity.

“It’s great for us, as a touring bluegrass band. We drive tens of thousands of miles a year, and we feel that this is something we can do for the environment,” says Horne. Aside from the reduced travel costs, the oil comes from a renewable resource and burns cleaner than gasoline.

2020 VISION is planning more educational events around campus, including a conference on renewable resources to meet in the spring.

“We want to change the climate on campus,” says Rundell.  “We want people to pay attention to the things that they are doing, and be aware of the things they could do to make a difference for the environment.”

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Date last modified: 29-Mar-2006
Date created: 03-Feb-2006

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