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BSU's veggie-powered pickup wows D.C.
crowds |
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January 28, 2012 |
Fresh off their achievement of the building the
world’s fastest vehicle that runs on vegetable
oil, Boise State University’s Greenspeed student
club is in the nation’s capital this week to
talk about their record-setting performance and
sustainable fuels.
U.S. Senator Jim Risch stopped by the annual
Washington Auto Show to congratulate the
students and talk about the implications of
their work.
Greenspeed’s souped-up 1998 Chevrolet S-10
pick-up truck shattered the existing 98-mph
record for vegetable oil-fueled vehicles in
November with a run of 139 mph on a dry lakebed
called El Mirage in the Mojave Desert at a
Southern California Timing Association race. The
next day, the team broke its own record with a
run of 155 mph.
The project was designed to demonstrate the
potential of vegetable oil as an alternative to
traditional petroleum fuel products.
“Finding ways to reduce our dependence on
foreign oil is a matter of national security and
research projects like the one at Boise State
are a key part of moving us toward that energy
independence,” said Risch, ranking member on the
Senate Energy Subcommittee. “I congratulate the
students for their outstanding work in showing
that sustainable fuels are viable for
transportation and wish them well as they seek
to break more records.”
“Greenspeed is leading by example to show that
you don’t have to sacrifice performance for
sustainability,” said Mark Rudin, vice president
for research and economic development. “A truck
that goes 200 mph on vegetable oil is hardly a
practical machine, but it plays a critical role
in dispelling persistent myths that there is
something magical or special about petroleum.
Sustainable fuels can be good fuels.”
Greenspeed also announced their intention of
surpassing both their current 155-mph record for
vegetable oil vehicles and the current 215-mph
record for petroleum-fueled trucks in their
division. Their first attempt will be at the
Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah during Speedweek.
The Greenspeed club is made up of undergraduates
from Boise State’s College of Engineering and
the following students took part in the
Washington Auto Show: Jenny Kniss; Ken Fukumoto
of Portland, OR; Adrian Rothenbuhler of Bern,
Switzerland; Patrick Johnston of Boise and Seth
Fueurborn of Pocatello. |
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