Looming above the cab of his F-150 Ford pick up, the wood-burning energy plant in the truck bed is a definite conversation starter.
Especially when owner Andy Schofield takes his modified vehicle to the Fourth Annual Alternative Transportation picnic, where it was the star of the show. Hosted by the Traverse Bay Watershed Greens as a social and educational event, the picnic drew about 35 attendees and at least a half dozen different modes of transportation or energy generation.
Midway through the event at Sunset Park, Schofield drew attendees around him and explained in detail the workings behind his maple-block-fueled pick up. Throwing around terms like torque, gas, methane and creosote while sketching out the workings of the various parts and the overall system, Schofield noted that he adapted his design from the Internet. He enthusiastically pointed listeners to the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute for inspiration and technical details.
As he took his audience to the front of his truck, Schofield issued one warning about his proprietary design: "You can look under the hood but no photographs.”
While a ten-foot tall wood-powered vehicle might not catch on anytime soon for a mass market, other attendees at the picnic brought more traditional alternative forms of transportation.
Tom Mair of Traverse City organized the picnic and drove his contribution to saving gasoline and reducing pollution: a 2003 Honda Civic hybrid. With 55,000 miles on it and minimal repairs so far, he is thrilled with a car that regularly gets 40-50 miles per gallon. He boasts a personal high of 63 miles per gallon in idea conditions: hilly Leelanau County with no traffic lights.
In Mair's mind, the time has never been riper for alternatives to an oil-based economy.
"The media and the environmentalists, the scientists, are talking more about alternative fuels,” he said. "Even the petroleum companies are talking about alternative fuels — they're admitting there's a problem.”
Bill Queen of Northwestern Michigan College brought the Mobile Energy Demonstration Center and had the solar panels deployed on the top of the trailer. Inside an array of equipment translated the sun's rays into DC current.
"Economically, we can gain so much by doing this,” said Queen of alternative energy. "We'll create jobs and new products and services. Electric motors are amazing, they are very powerful - if we start thinking more about it there's all kinds of ways to power them.”
With "Bio Diesel Ready” and "Let's Make a Diesel Deal” painted in large letters on the windows of his 1982 Diesel Suburban, Michael Oak is a mobile message board for the fuel.
The Traverse City resident is trying to sell his giant although somewhat fuel-efficient vehicle (it gets 18-20 miles per gallon, after all) and also enjoys spreading the word about biodiesel fuels. He took a class on the topic two years ago at Northwestern Michigan College and was inspired to try it out for himself.
"The reason I bought this truck was to run it on biodiesel, my original idea was who wouldn't want free fuel,” he said referring to the idea of using waste restaurant oil as fuel. "It is biodiesel ready, you don't have to do nothing, just put in the biodiesel but to use waste vegetable oil you have to have a conversion.”
Tammy St. Pierre weighed in at the picnic with human-powered vehicles. She brought three-wheeled Trikkes for people to try out, exhorting their benefits to both riders and the environment.
"You use a rock and roll motion, it's a full-body workout with no impact and they're made of aircraft grade aluminum and very light,” said St. Pierre, who sells the stand-up, pedal-less vehicles with her husband Kevin.