BrevardBioDiesel Blog

The 5th annual Sustainable Biodiesel Summit (SBS) just so happens to be held in central Florida this year. Each year this grassroots oriented national meeting precedes the National Biodiesel Board's conference.
The SBS, in their own words is:

An annual conference to raise awareness of sustainability and to facilitate the adoption of sustainable practices in the biodiesel industry. Industry professionals meet to exchange best practices, brainstorm ideas, and support each other’s efforts to conduct successful businesses in an environmentally sustainable and socially just manner. The summit focuses not biodiesel for its own sake, but biodiesel as a means to realize greater environmental stewardship, shared economic development (particularly through smaller, community-scale businesses), and a stable, secure, self-reliant energy future.

A listserv for discussions is available. You can view the wrap-up session from 2007 on YouTube. Registration before January first 7th is $100.

UPDATE: Public demo of the bus at Canova Beach park 11am-1pm Wed Dec 5

The BioTour vegetable-oil powered bus is in the Brevard area. We caught up with the crew in Melbourne Beach to hear their mission and see the bus.

Ethan Burke and Alan Palm purchased a used school bus in 2006 and have since traveled to over 20 states, racking up over 30,000 miles (largely powered by used restaurant fryer oil) in a mission to raise awareness about alternative energy. They plan to visit the remaining states, ramp up with more buses, and participate in the 2008 US campaign trail.

On the tech front, the bus has several drums for storage of WVO - which is pumped directly from the restaurant dump bins. Two large parallel inline filters along the side of the bus perform the first stage of filtering. An Elsbett system coordinates fuel and tank heating with cutover from diesel to the WVO. The bus also has a solar panel rack on top driving an inverter/battery setup inside which provides compact fluorescent lighting and additional AC outlets.

Jay, Lori, Alan, Fernando, Ethan with BioTour Bus - photo by Jenny