The Second Annual Alternative Car & Transportation Expo

by E. "Doc" Smith, 2007-10-19

This Friday and Saturday, I'll be in Santa Monica for The Second Annual Alt Car Expo, a gathering of alternative fuel presenters showcasing the latest in electric, natural gas, biodiesel, hydrogen, ethanol, propane and hybrid technologies. Members of the Bay Area's alternative fuel community will also be speaking as well as attending, including the San Francisco Biofuel Recycling director, Ben Jordan. Jordan, alongside the Public Utiilites Commission and the SF Department of the Environment, are responsible for the city's new Waste Oil Collection program; a program that is already collecting grease from restaurants and delivering it to Bay Area sites and converting it to the virtually Greenhouse gas free biodiesel.

San Francisco is already leading the way on the alternative fuel front; 54% of the city's diesel vehicles are already using B 20 biodiesel, a blend of 20% biodiesel and 80% petroleum. Statistics have already proven a significant reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in other cities using this alternative strategy. Now, virtually all of the city's trash and recycling trucks, Zoo vehicles, Airport shuttles and the like are using B 20, with plans for more agencies to join in 2008.

With the recent opening of the city's first biodiesel fleet station; the Olympian at 23rd and Third Streets, and another with MUNI's fuel supplier at nearby SF Petroleum, Mayor Newsom's vision of a sustainable city has become a bit more clearer. The Bay Area's first biodiesel plant in nearby Alameda is scheduled to open in 2008, and folks like all-women owned and operated Biofuel Oasis in Berkeley, and Blue Sky's "Betty Biodiesel", who is trying to convince school bus companies like Laidlaw to make the healthy switch to B 20, sparring future generations of children from needlessly suffering the effects of asthma, cancer, and a host of diesel caused health problems.

Those who have watched the fascinating "Who Killed the Electric Car?", will no doubt enjoy the expo, and the promise of more electric vehicles in the future. The Petersen Automotive Museum will even have the famed EV-1 on display. As chronicled in the film, General Motors' destruction of nearly the entire fleet of Saturn-based EV-1 electric cars was enough to make anyone's stomach turn. The Japanese were so afraid of GM's potential dominance of the electric car market, that they embarked on their own program, and the hybrids of Toyota and Honda were born.

There will also be "Bicycle Valet Parking", offered by the City of Santa Monica, and a "New Car Lot" that will feature vehicles for sale, so that attendees can put their money where their heart is and immediately make an impact towards reducing their gasoline usage. From Sustainable Bamboo Skateboards, to the latest in bicycles, scooters and a wide array of new cars will be available to test drive and purchase. Attendees can also participate in a fuel cell "ride and drive" featuring cars from Honda and other manufacturers, and even take an "Ecology Footprint Quiz", and compare how other folks live around the planet. One of my favorite vehicles is the new Mercedes hybrid-diesel Smart Car. Although not available in US, this car nevertheless drove from Vancouver to Santa Monica on one tank of B100 biodiesel!

I'll be driving my biodiesel powered VW Bug to the Expo, displaying it with all of the other alt-fuel vehicles and representing the San Francisco Biofuels Cooperative, now located in the Mission district. Several years ago, I attended a similar expo like this one, here in San Francisco. I had thought that if they ever made a hybrid VW Bug, I'd buy it. When I learned that ANY diesel vehicle; from a Ford pick-up truck, to a Turbo-Diesel Mercedes could run on the cleaner-burning biodiesel, without any modifications, I was sold. If you are in Santa Monica this weekend, check out the free, Alt Car Expo.

It could change your life, it definitely changed mine.

E. "Doc" Smith is a musician and recording engineer who has worked with the likes of Brian Eno, Madonna, Warren Zevon, Mickey Hart and John Mayall among others. He is also the program director for Green Depot, a not-for-profit organization funded by an SF Environment environmental justice program, advocating the use of biodiesel in Bayview Hunters Point and Potrero. He can be reached at myspace.com/edoctorsmith