Bio-diesel is as cool as his hair !!
So it turns out that 
these two crazy cats Seth (driving) & Tyler (above with hair) have been driving from the West coast of the States all the way down to Tierra del Fuego in Argentina. What makes their journey all the crazier is that they’re driving in a retired Japanese fire truck – all on bio-diesel !! 
That’s well over 6,000 miles ! There are a few different kinds of bio-diesel (BD) but these guys usually filter used cooking oil for their BD. Luckily, I stumbled across them one day when they were having lunch here in Tarija city – and ended up begging them to come out with their trusty steed and share what they’re doing with the kids at the internado !! 
The kids were super excited about the tuck – they’ve never seen anything like it, but true to Bolivian form they wouldn’t ask any questions while the boys where here – but I got virtually mobbed after they left ! 
It turns out that bio-diesel is not only significantly better for the environment than regular diesel (which releases ~ 70% of greenhouse gases ), but it’s just as powerful, and it gets the same gas mileage ! As an added bonus, oil is more viscous than diesel fuel – in fact to turn it into fuel you have to extract a bunch of water from the cooking oil – but in the end it keeps your engine running longer and smoother than it would with regular diesel !!
To the left is the oil press and part of the filtration system the boys have on their truck - they actually filter their fuel while they drive, talk about being efficient. So after these Oil & Water guys left the nuns, the two teachers that live with the kids in the internado, and I had a meeting about this great bio-diesel idea.
They all expressed interest in starting a BD project at the internado, and now here I am learning more than I ever thought I would about cars, trucks, and making fuel. 
Turns out, thousands of people make BD worldwide, in fact it’s the easiest fuel to make ‘at home’ . . . well we haven’t made our first test batch yet – but if I still have my eyebrows in the next pictures I post – you’ll know it was a success !!
Tyler says making BD is as easy 
as dancing. . . shhhh, Michi, don’t tell him I’m still taking dance lessons !! 
We’ve already got a truck we can experiment on – now we’re just looking for a motor !! Ha, well if any of you know anything about BD or know someone who does – please give them my email – there’s so much info it’s crazy just trying to get through it all. But by the time you come visit – I promise we’ll pick you up from the airport in our very own BD truck !!
Now playing: The Fray - How to Save a Life
