dieselcruiserhead
16 Years on ExPo. Whoa!!
Carbon Neutral Expedition I
www.carbonneutralexpedition.com
Hi All,
This writeup highlights Carbon Neutral Expedition I (CNE I) that was in late April of 2010 prior to Overland Expo. This was an idea that we came up with some years ago when we started doing the mathematical calculations on our emissions outputs and thought it would be a good way to highlight the trip/concept and large 4WD vehicles that can actually be quite "eco-friendly" when powered with renewable fuels. In this case, it became an excuse to specifically go to the Overland Expo in Amado in the Spring, and do it a "hardcore" way, in a way that we actually know pretty well, in that we'd do it multi day and relatively self sufficient and basically make it our own little "expedition."
Once we launched the idea, I found that I had a pretty strong response from the people I called and shortly after I actually had fairly overwhelming interest in it and eventually settled on a cast of about 15 characters (full introductions coming below), most of which I had actually never met in person and most of whom are now people I might even call life long friends.
There is a lot to the debate of the benefit of biofuels and I don't have too much interest in getting into the specifics of it other than that biodiesel and vegetable oil (the principle fuels we used for the expedition) are a lot different than ethanol, and that we are not selling them as 'panaceas' to oil by any means, we're just pointing out that there are alternatives to oil and that fuel for diesel engines can come from plants and can be as stone-solid reliable as diesel for a trip like this. And if your vehicle can get 20-25 miles per gallon (which is common for a diesel even in an off-road truck) then running on vegetable oil in particular can make your vehicle produce as little as 1/4 of the greenhouse gas of a Prius.
In the end we had a great group from literally all over the world, and it quickly started becoming the makings of a real adventure. The event was such a success that we have plans to expand it into most likely an annual event. We are doing a smaller, more intimate Carbon Neutral Expedition in the fall (edit - this will now be in the early spring) and other future CNEs here and there.
Here is the mission statement I sent to friends and invitees:
We are explorers who are finding real world answers to questions about weaning our species off fossil fuels.
This is a gathering of friends, of wonderful spirits, and of wonderful environmental minds. 8 vehicles, 16 people, and a motorcycle with a dog that rides in a sidecar. We traveled from Park City, Utah to Amado, Arizona (20 miles north of the Mexican border) over 6 days and 1000 miles, completely self sufficient, and not adding a drop of carbon to our blanket (the atmosphere). We traveled through some of Utah and Arizona's most spectacular terrain, on existing dirt roads & tracks, and using Tread Lightly! certified techniques. This is about humans and our compatibility with the planet.
All vehicles ran on a wide range of alternative fuels or offset their footprint through carbon credits. Our final destination is the 2010 Overland Expo, a gathering of world explorers and vehicle-dependent adventurers who are largely environmentalists themselves - people who are out to see the world and the land and all of its beauty, who simply choose a car to do it.
_________________________
First, I invited Shane Ballinsky from Rover
Hybrids. Shane is a famous perfectionist for diesel conversions and veggie oil and has built some incredibly notable rigs including a famous "Defender 100" (in my book, one of the ultimate Rovers). Shane unfortunately couldn't come because of a move and a new kid and new stay at home Dad commitments but I have known Shane for years and I felt it was important to mention him as an important invite and hopefully we have him out again.
Second was Craig Reece from PlantDrive who builds veggie oil components, is one of the most remarkable human beings I know particularly after I got to know him in person (after this trip). I've talked to for years about veggie oil conversions a problem with talking with Craig is that usually a small conversation becomes a couple hours! I've found myself doing this many times, for years on end, before I actually met him in person. He also badly suffers from 'the disease' (aka, our disease, expeditioning, a great sense of adventuring, etc) as well and as a result he has a wonderful collection of some of the coolest trucks in the world, and does it as well as the absolute best. His trucks include a 1991 Land Cruiser with a factory Toyota 1HD-FT (the ultimate 6 cyl Toyota turbo diesel) and on veggie with his components. The whole rear is a stainless kitchen area that slides out and is a full pro quality cooking area. He also is the guy who has *everything* with him down to the correct cooking spice. And then he also owns the Defender 100 mentioned above as well, that is currently being repowered (again!) from a 300tdi to a 2.8 HO Powerstroke International (the high output cousin of the 300tdi). And finally he was actually the oldest out of the bunch of us, well into his 60s, and you would never know it. He is completely utterly fit and a great example of where we would all like to be when we are in our sixties.
Here is Craig's Defender 90 (before it became the Defender 100) from a picture of a trip he did with Nathan Hindman from Pangaea Expeditions (see more on Nathan below). It was on this trip, where he spent over $3000 in fuel, that he came up with the inspiration to start Plant Drive.
Here are also photos of his HDJ-80 that he brought along on the trip. I am posting so many because he had some last minute mechanical problems, so he basically drove the 1200 or so miles to meet us in Flagstaff Arizona for the last day of the trip, just after we hit the Grand Canyon, and to join us and camp with us for the Overland Expo itself. He had attended the year before and wasn't planning on attending but I was able to convince him otherwise (I had never been before either) and it was an extreme pleasure to have him along.
www.carbonneutralexpedition.com
Hi All,
This writeup highlights Carbon Neutral Expedition I (CNE I) that was in late April of 2010 prior to Overland Expo. This was an idea that we came up with some years ago when we started doing the mathematical calculations on our emissions outputs and thought it would be a good way to highlight the trip/concept and large 4WD vehicles that can actually be quite "eco-friendly" when powered with renewable fuels. In this case, it became an excuse to specifically go to the Overland Expo in Amado in the Spring, and do it a "hardcore" way, in a way that we actually know pretty well, in that we'd do it multi day and relatively self sufficient and basically make it our own little "expedition."
Once we launched the idea, I found that I had a pretty strong response from the people I called and shortly after I actually had fairly overwhelming interest in it and eventually settled on a cast of about 15 characters (full introductions coming below), most of which I had actually never met in person and most of whom are now people I might even call life long friends.
There is a lot to the debate of the benefit of biofuels and I don't have too much interest in getting into the specifics of it other than that biodiesel and vegetable oil (the principle fuels we used for the expedition) are a lot different than ethanol, and that we are not selling them as 'panaceas' to oil by any means, we're just pointing out that there are alternatives to oil and that fuel for diesel engines can come from plants and can be as stone-solid reliable as diesel for a trip like this. And if your vehicle can get 20-25 miles per gallon (which is common for a diesel even in an off-road truck) then running on vegetable oil in particular can make your vehicle produce as little as 1/4 of the greenhouse gas of a Prius.
In the end we had a great group from literally all over the world, and it quickly started becoming the makings of a real adventure. The event was such a success that we have plans to expand it into most likely an annual event. We are doing a smaller, more intimate Carbon Neutral Expedition in the fall (edit - this will now be in the early spring) and other future CNEs here and there.
Here is the mission statement I sent to friends and invitees:
We are explorers who are finding real world answers to questions about weaning our species off fossil fuels.
This is a gathering of friends, of wonderful spirits, and of wonderful environmental minds. 8 vehicles, 16 people, and a motorcycle with a dog that rides in a sidecar. We traveled from Park City, Utah to Amado, Arizona (20 miles north of the Mexican border) over 6 days and 1000 miles, completely self sufficient, and not adding a drop of carbon to our blanket (the atmosphere). We traveled through some of Utah and Arizona's most spectacular terrain, on existing dirt roads & tracks, and using Tread Lightly! certified techniques. This is about humans and our compatibility with the planet.
All vehicles ran on a wide range of alternative fuels or offset their footprint through carbon credits. Our final destination is the 2010 Overland Expo, a gathering of world explorers and vehicle-dependent adventurers who are largely environmentalists themselves - people who are out to see the world and the land and all of its beauty, who simply choose a car to do it.
_________________________
First, I invited Shane Ballinsky from Rover
Hybrids. Shane is a famous perfectionist for diesel conversions and veggie oil and has built some incredibly notable rigs including a famous "Defender 100" (in my book, one of the ultimate Rovers). Shane unfortunately couldn't come because of a move and a new kid and new stay at home Dad commitments but I have known Shane for years and I felt it was important to mention him as an important invite and hopefully we have him out again.
Second was Craig Reece from PlantDrive who builds veggie oil components, is one of the most remarkable human beings I know particularly after I got to know him in person (after this trip). I've talked to for years about veggie oil conversions a problem with talking with Craig is that usually a small conversation becomes a couple hours! I've found myself doing this many times, for years on end, before I actually met him in person. He also badly suffers from 'the disease' (aka, our disease, expeditioning, a great sense of adventuring, etc) as well and as a result he has a wonderful collection of some of the coolest trucks in the world, and does it as well as the absolute best. His trucks include a 1991 Land Cruiser with a factory Toyota 1HD-FT (the ultimate 6 cyl Toyota turbo diesel) and on veggie with his components. The whole rear is a stainless kitchen area that slides out and is a full pro quality cooking area. He also is the guy who has *everything* with him down to the correct cooking spice. And then he also owns the Defender 100 mentioned above as well, that is currently being repowered (again!) from a 300tdi to a 2.8 HO Powerstroke International (the high output cousin of the 300tdi). And finally he was actually the oldest out of the bunch of us, well into his 60s, and you would never know it. He is completely utterly fit and a great example of where we would all like to be when we are in our sixties.
Here is Craig's Defender 90 (before it became the Defender 100) from a picture of a trip he did with Nathan Hindman from Pangaea Expeditions (see more on Nathan below). It was on this trip, where he spent over $3000 in fuel, that he came up with the inspiration to start Plant Drive.
Here are also photos of his HDJ-80 that he brought along on the trip. I am posting so many because he had some last minute mechanical problems, so he basically drove the 1200 or so miles to meet us in Flagstaff Arizona for the last day of the trip, just after we hit the Grand Canyon, and to join us and camp with us for the Overland Expo itself. He had attended the year before and wasn't planning on attending but I was able to convince him otherwise (I had never been before either) and it was an extreme pleasure to have him along.
Attachments
Last edited: