Bio-Truck Expedition: cruising into the possible

Andy Pag with the first Bio-Truck

When I was in Esfahan, Iran I met a fine English-Italian gent by the name of Andy Pag. His appearance was that of a backpacker, a bearded fellow with a quick smile and look of bemusement. However, he was no ordinary traveler. He was the captain of the Bio Truck and he was winding his way across the continents on a wild adventure of the possible. 





The aim of the Bio Truck was to travel around the world fueled only by waste bio fuel (used cooking oil). He launched his trip in September 2009 from England and piloted his truck across the continents in an eastward direction. I met him in November 2009 and I followed his blog. After Iran and Pakistan he made it to India where he spent several months trying to convince the authorities he was not a terrorist. It took a lot of convincing but he eventually continued on inspiring individuals around the world.

We are entering into a new time of human history when our impact in terms of consumption and living standards will have a bearing on the world's climate. We need to understand how much impact we are having and what each of us can do about it? If we can make major reductions in our emissions we have a hope of turning this thing around.

The goal of the Bio Truck Expedition is:

to discover if that kind of dramatic reduction is possible and what compromises it requires. These rubbish journeys are eco-experiments to see if we can look to technology to answer this challenge, or if we have to rethink how we live and interact with each other and the planet.

 I salute you Andy Pag for inspiring me on my journey back in 2009. Visit Andy's website to learn more about his continuing quest to see what's possible in our world. From his website:

Now we’re planning to fly using fuel made from plastic trash. One of our partners has developed a process to turn non-recyclable plastic waste into fuel using Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis. We’re going to use that fuel to power an aircraft for an amazing journey, and there’s room for passengers to join us in the aviation history books on the first ever rubbish-powered flight. Watch this space.

http://biotruckexpedition.org/