10.16.2008
6.5 Earthquake Hits Southern Mexico
A 6.5 earthquake hit Southern Mexico today. It was centered roughly 70 miles South of the first stage of the race. Currently there are no reports of structural damage, but we'll keep you posted.
The Big Not So Easy!
The adventure continues! After leaving Graceland we headed South through Littlerock, Texarkana, Houston, and posted up at a Flying J truck stop in San Antonio for the night.
The skys threatened rain for much of yesterday, but it wasn't until about 70 miles outside of Houston that we saw our first drops, and about twenty miles later we had to change our first flat in the rain. The scars of the recent hurricanes were still very much visible. Twisted bill boards and debis strewn channels of water lined the roads. Once we had changed our tire and were back on the road the skies opened up, ravaging this area once again. It was by no means a hurrican, but the deluge flooded streets just off of the highway and slowed all traffic to a crawl. We are still playing around with the best blend possible of Biodiesel and petro diesel for the truck. It looks like we will have some of the Biodiesel left for some of the trip in Mexico. 
Stay tuned....
The skys threatened rain for much of yesterday, but it wasn't until about 70 miles outside of Houston that we saw our first drops, and about twenty miles later we had to change our first flat in the rain. The scars of the recent hurricanes were still very much visible. Twisted bill boards and debis strewn channels of water lined the roads. Once we had changed our tire and were back on the road the skies opened up, ravaging this area once again. It was by no means a hurrican, but the deluge flooded streets just off of the highway and slowed all traffic to a crawl. We are still playing around with the best blend possible of Biodiesel and petro diesel for the truck. It looks like we will have some of the Biodiesel left for some of the trip in Mexico. We are now on our way to Laredo, Texas and hope to get there in the late afternoon. We will use the rest of the day repairing the flat and preping for the boarder cross on Saturday morning.
Stay tuned....
10.14.2008
Lessons Learned
As much as we'd like to use this project as an opportunity to teach, we are constantly reminded that we are also humble students. We had barley left CT when we stopped at a gas station to put some air in the truck tires. A gentleman delivering gas to the station was looking at us funny as we filled up the first two tires, and walked over to the air pump as it shut off. I sarcastically joked that 75 cents was expensive for air. He replied that it was actually free in the state of CT and that I should have read the instructions before inserting my money. I humbly took my foot from my mouth and thanked him kindly before going to see the attendant so that we could fill the other two tires.
We then set off on I84 West travelling through Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvennia. We then took I81 South through Maryland, West Virginia, and stopped off Charlottesville, Virginia for a bite to eat. Lesson #2 came later that night as we were on our way to Tennessee. We had been running a about a 50/50 blend of B100 recycled Tao oil with petrol diesel, and as the temperature dropped below 50 degrees the truck began to hesitate under load. As it turns out B100 Tao oil has a freezing point of about 49 degrees and was gelling up in our truck tank and not flowing properly to the engine. Not all bio-diesel has this high of a freezing point, but to be on the safe side you should definately check before you start running it in your engine. B100 soy oil for example has a freezing point around 25 to 30 degrees As we move further south into warmer temperatures we plan on experimenting with different blends of Tao oil.
We've stopped briefly at Krystal's fast food resturant in Nashville, TN to utilize their free WiFi. After a quick stop in Memphis to check out the King's Palace, it's on to Arkansas this evening.
Stay tuned....
We then set off on I84 West travelling through Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvennia. We then took I81 South through Maryland, West Virginia, and stopped off Charlottesville, Virginia for a bite to eat. Lesson #2 came later that night as we were on our way to Tennessee. We had been running a about a 50/50 blend of B100 recycled Tao oil with petrol diesel, and as the temperature dropped below 50 degrees the truck began to hesitate under load. As it turns out B100 Tao oil has a freezing point of about 49 degrees and was gelling up in our truck tank and not flowing properly to the engine. Not all bio-diesel has this high of a freezing point, but to be on the safe side you should definately check before you start running it in your engine. B100 soy oil for example has a freezing point around 25 to 30 degrees As we move further south into warmer temperatures we plan on experimenting with different blends of Tao oil.
We've stopped briefly at Krystal's fast food resturant in Nashville, TN to utilize their free WiFi. After a quick stop in Memphis to check out the King's Palace, it's on to Arkansas this evening.
Stay tuned....
10.12.2008
En Route!
One day soon the B100 bio-diesel made from waste resources that you see in the 55 gallon drums in the back of our truck will be available in the gas pumps that you already use regularly.
The day has finally arrived! We will be leaving early the morning of October 13th to meet up with the Coyote Convoy in Laredo, Texas the evening of the 17th. On October 18th about 50 teams from the U.S. and Canada will cross the border together and travel to the start of the race in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas Mexico.
Big ups to Big "Bull" Moncrief for spending every night of the last three months working on the race car and trailer. We'd also like to thank Eileen Moncrief and Michele DeVine for their unending support, and the last real food that we'll see for the next three weeks. A big thank you to Eric Nelson and Ed Mack for their technical support during the months leading up to our adventure. And of course thank you to all of our friends, family, and supporters without whom this project would not be possible. We will be posting daily updates with our progress, so be sure to check in. Viva La Carrera! Stay tuned...
Not cow horns, but a rubber chicken is along for the ride. (Pollo' Loco!)
Note: Temperatures in New England have been cold at night, our truck is a bit tempermental, and bio-diesel has the potential gel up in colder climates. Therefore, in order to play it safe we have mixed about 60/40 bio-diesel with petro diesel for the first leg of our trip. The bio-diesel that we are currently using is made from recycled tao oil. We intend to use bio-diesel made from waste resources in our truck as much as we possibly can during this 10,000 mile trip. We will be using recycled waste vegetable oil in our 1959 Mercedes for the entire 2,000 miles of the Pan Am Race through Mexico.
10.08.2008
8.31.2008
Our 1984 Mercedes 300SD that we have converted to run on bio-diesel.
This switch allows up to change between the regular diesel tank and our second heated tank for filted waste vegetable oil.
A second heated fuel line(the red rubber hose) and fuel filter for waste vegetable oil.
The second heated tank for filtered waste vegetable oil in the trunk.
8.27.2008
8.13.2008
Press Release:
Contact:
Kip Moncrief
kip@ctbiofuels.com
860.916.3751
Kip Moncrief
kip@ctbiofuels.com
860.916.3751
For Immediate Release 7/21/08
FIRST TEAM TO RACE LA CARARRA PANAMERICANA ON ALTERNATIVE FUEL
(Waste Vegetable Oil)
(Waste Vegetable Oil)
NEW HAVEN, CONN. – The racing team of Kip Moncrief and Mike DeVine is entered to run the La Carerra Pan Americana, a Mexican road race this October as the first team in history competing in a race car that runs on grease.
Under the name SolShine Alternatives, the team will drive a converted 1959 Mercedes 190D diesel from New Haven to the start of the race in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico fueled by waste vegetable oil picked up along the way. A second grease car, a 1984 Mercedes 300SD, will be the chase car carrying fuel, supplies, and a documentary film crew.
The team's goal is to spread the word about alternative fuels and highlight their dream that racers will be able to drive competitively and green in the future.Moncrief, 24, is the Manager of Operations for Connecticut BioFuels, the largest for-profit waste oil collectors and distributors in Connecticut. He is also a member of the Sports Car Club of America and a lifelong auto sports enthusiast, racing road courses like Watkins Glen, and Limerock, and short track ovals like Monadnock, N.H. In the off season Moncrief ice races cars with the Adirondack Motor Enthusiast Club on various lakes in upstate New York.
DeVine, 25, has lived and worked in Jackson, WY since graduating from St. Lawrence University in 2005. While in school his focuses were global climate change policy and sustainability. He attended the UN COP10 meeting on global climate change in Buenos Aries, Argentina as well as the UN COP11/MOP1 meeting in Montreal, Canada in association with Earth Council Geneva to promote their e-learning programs.
"I’ve grown up doing the most racing I could afford, now with the cost at the pump and also to the environment we need to find a way to keep our sport alive," Moncrief says. "Racing is a bug I caught a long time ago. I plan on racing until the day I die; but I also believe things need to change in the automotive industry and our own personal consumption patterns for the sport to survive."
SolShine is a not-for-profit organization in Connecticut dedicated to educating the public about alternative energy and all of the options for a more sustainable society. The race is being funded by the drivers and by charitable contributions. To donate, or for more information, visit http://www.solshinealternatives.org/.
8.12.2008
Fundraising event in Jackson, WY
On Saturday, August 2nd our friends in Jackson, WY came out in force to support the SolShine Benefit at Thai Me Up resturant. Cara Kelly and Joseph Pinkard played some great music, and the number of bikes piled up on the deck was inspiring. With the help of our friends we were able to raise just over $3,000 dollars to support the construction of our race car and our Pan Am Race project. Many local businesses also contributed to our raffle. We would like to thank Hoback Sports, Skinny Skis, Teton Mountaineering, the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Hotel Terra, Movie Works, the Snake River Brewing Company, the Cadillac Grille, Cloudveil, and 89.1 KHOL Jackson Hole Community Radio. A big thanks to Jeremy at Thai Me Up, and to all of our friends we thank you for your support!
6.24.2008
5.23.2008
Bio-diesel made from Algae shows promise as an alternative source of energy.
UNH Bio-diesel Group
http://www.unh.edu/p2/biodiesel/article_alge.html
Oilgae - Oil from Algae
http://www.oilgae.com/
Bio-diesel Guide
http://biodiesel.rain-barrel.net/biodiesel-from-algae/
http://www.unh.edu/p2/biodiesel/article_alge.html
Oilgae - Oil from Algae
http://www.oilgae.com/
Bio-diesel Guide
http://biodiesel.rain-barrel.net/biodiesel-from-algae/
2.24.2008
Biofuels: 'Green gold' or problems untold?
Story Highlights - Biofuels have potential to make a positive impact on climate change - Boom in biofuel crops could increase competition between food and fuel - Opinion divided over claims that biofuels can meet growth in global energy needs Strain on water supply and soil erosion possible down-sides to biofuel crops http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/02/24/eco.biofuels/index.html?iref=newssearch
Biofuel-powered jet makes test flight
Story Highlights - First biofuel-powered commercial aircraft flies from London to Amsterdam - Virgin Atlantic test flight hailed as a step towards "cleaner flying" - Environmental campaigners have reservations about impact of biofuel production http://www.cnn.com/2008/BUSINESS/02/24/flight.biofuels/index.html?iref=hpmostpop
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