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Big Green Bus makes stop in Menlo Park
Students advocate change in energy use, one deep-fryer at a time

by Sean Howell

Menlo Park resident Brian Hendrickson had planned to spend this summer traveling abroad and seeing the world.

Instead, the 22-year-old is trekking across the United States, stopping at restaurants and fast-food chains to pick up their excess grease.

But for Mr. Hendrickson, a graduate of Menlo School, it's a fair trade-off. He is one of 13 Dartmouth College students traveling across the United States this summer in a school bus converted to run on vegetable oil, spreading awareness about alternative energy sources.

The Big Green Bus left Hanover, New Hampshire, on June 13, adorned with the signs of its corporate sponsors and the message "Change the World" tattooed above the windshield. It spent four days in San Francisco and San Jose last week, parking in front of the Hendrickson house in Menlo Park for a few nights, before heading to Southern California.

"We like to talk to people, sharing our thoughts and hearing what they have to say," Mr. Hendrickson said. "We don't try to preach; we listen to what they have to say, too, and try to come up with practical solutions that they can use in their everyday lives. This trip is about focusing on what we as individual people can do to modify our daily practices and lessen our impact on the environment."

It is becoming increasingly clear that the world will have to look for alternative energy sources in the near future. Some scientists estimate that crude oil production may peak within the next 50 years, and we are rapidly expending our fossil fuel reserves. Many predict that alternative fuels will become a major part of the energy system in as little as five to 10 years.

The students have orchestrated their trip to expose as many people to their message as possible, stopping at festivals, conferences and fairs centered around environmentally friendly practices. They have spoken with companies about ways to implement green practices that also make economic sense.

The students travel to large events, attracting attention with their bus. They stopped at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, for four days, talking to concertgoers and enjoying the music.

At other times, they simply stop in a town center and try to attract passersby — not a hard task when your ride is a green school bus, outfitted with couches, bunk beds and a plasma screen.

"The conversation usually starts out about the bus; people will come over to see what it's about," Mr. Hendrickson said. "Eventually, we try to start talking to them about alternative fuels."

The project began last year, when 15 Dartmouth students and ultimate Frisbee fans converted a bus that would allow them to speak out on environmental issues and take them to tournaments, as well. Environmental awareness has become the primary purpose of this year's trip, and Frisbee has been cut out — for the most part.

Mr. Hendrickson, who will graduate from Dartmouth next winter with dual degrees in engineering, was brought aboard the project to set up the fuel system that would allow the bus to run on waste vegetable oil (WVO). He has also had to make adjustments to the system as the trip has progressed, and says that he has enjoyed being able to apply his engineering skills in a practical situation.

The viscosity of the vegetable oil is higher than that of diesel, so the bus uses an intricate system to heat the WVO. A diesel engine is used to start the vehicle while the WVO warms up.

Coolant lines carry energy generated by the engine to heat a second tank filled with WVO. When it has become hot enough, the driver flips a switch that shifts to the WVO engine.

The vegetable oil must also be filtered before being transferred into the tank, a challenge for the students because they can't dictate the quality of the grease they receive.

The conversion is fairly simple to make for smaller vehicles, but Mr. Hendrickson does not see conversion to WVO as a long-term energy solution. Unlike buses, small cars are used primarily for short trips, and in many cases the WVO would not heat up in time for the driver to switch to the second tank. In addition, gasoline engines cannot run on WVO.

"The bus is supposed to be a conversation starter, not the conversation itself," Mr. Hendrickson said. "You can't look for a single replacement for oil and fossil fuels."

Instead, he advocates using materials available locally to fulfill energy needs, from soybeans to natural gas reserves. The Bay Area, for example, is one of the best areas in the country for harvesting solar power, because of the unique combination of plenty of sunlight and cool temperatures. Palo Alto already uses natural gas from landfills in San Francisco for electricity.

Mr. Hendrickson said that it would take the cooperation of governments to harvest local resources and car companies to manufacture vehicles that can run on a variety of fuels.

He noted that the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is trying to get all 3,000 restaurants in San Francisco to donate their WVO to a central deposit, so that the city can filter it and make it easier for citizens to use. The project began, he said, with individual citizens approaching the restaurants and the city. And that, Mr. Hendrickson said, is what has to happen for change to begin.

"We don't want people to see us as some bright-eyed young kids," he said. "We really believe that we have to take the initiative ourselves to get mass change to happen. A lot of people ask whether it's possible for an individual to create change on a larger scale. Well, we believe that it has to be, or else it won't happen.

"People need to move beyond just awareness of these issues to say, 'What can I do personally?' We're not asking people to live in mud huts or bike 50 miles to work. We're just asking them to consider where they buy their food, to think about buying cars with better gas mileage."

Mr. Hendrickson said that he would like to work for an engineering consulting firm with an environmental bent on the East Coast after he graduates. He sees himself using his engineering degree for a few years, then going into business, where he hopes to get a chance to implement some of the modifications that he has seen at companies on the trip.