A Long, Fat-Fueled Adventure

April 8, 2007 — -- After nine months, 21,000 miles and countless vats of lard and oil, Seth Warren and Tyler Bradt have finally finished their excellent fat-fueled adventure.

Their goal was to take "the longest road trip in the world" without using a drop of gas.

Their means was a 1987 Japanese fire truck converted to run on plant and animal fats.

Last week, after covering Alaska, Chile, and everything in between, they arrived at the tip of South America.

"There's a lot of different fuels for different people's lifestyles," Warren said. "This is a way we found to fuel our lifestyle."

The Fat of the Land

Along the way the two 20-somethings stopped to hold seminars on biofuels. Warren said his idea was "to show people that we can run the car on the plant and animal oils that exist in their backyards."

Staying true to his message, the guys filled the car with native fuels -- fish oil in Alaska and pig lard in Mexico.

When the fats started to run low, they relied on the kind that grows everywhere -- leftover fast food grease.

"The craziest stuff that we used was unprocessed palm pulp. We found this stuff in Colombia and it was super thick orange nasty stuff," Warren said.

Fire Truck to Fat Truck

Warren and Bradt, both professional kayakers, said they needed a vehicle sturdy enough that could carry their kayaking gear. Normally, they ride in gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs, but for this trip they wanted something special.

Shopping online, they found the virtually unused diesel fire truck stored in a garage near Mount Fuji, Japan. They bought it, imported it, modified it (with the help of engineers), and soon enough they were rolling down the road.

Warren said the truck is "heavy and slow" but gets the same fuel mileage and force as a regular vehicle.

They had many breakdowns along the way, but Warren said none were caused by the constantly changing kinds of fuel they used.

Continuing the Ride

After spending the last week relaxing in Argentina, Warren and Brant are getting ready to refuel and head to Chile. There, a ferry will take the truck to Santiago, where it will be boxed up and shipped to Seattle.

But despite all the miles they've piled on, the fire truck's journey isn't over yet.

Next, it will be re-tinkered to run on algae for a trip across America. Warren plans to continue his biofuels education efforts along the way through the non-profit organization he founded, the Biofuels Education Coalition.

"We're trying to show by example," Warren said. "We don't think vegetable oil is the answer to all the world's problems, but it's definitely one of them."

For more on the trip, visit www.oilandwaterproject.org or read about the journey on the blog at www.oilandwaterproject.org/blog/