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After a 2007 trek spanning 3000 kilometres from Darwin to Adelaide, the University of Adelaide’s BioBike is now
due to leave on a 20,000 kilometre around Australia journey, taking over from the 2007 trek.
Visualised by Dr Colin
Kestrell and manufactured by the University’s Mechanical Engineering students, the BioBike, aka Betty, will be ridden
by author and prior offshore oil rigger, Paul Carter.
Extremely unique as a diesel bike, the motorcycle takes it
to another level by riding on used cooking oil and waste fats.
Carter, and the University of Adelaide, is trying
to raise awareness on the potential of using cooking oil as an alternative to hydrocarbons in terms of fuel.
The
average speed of the ride’s highway element will be around 95km/h, and Carter anticipates using a total of approximately
650 litres for the journey.
With proof in the Panasonic World Solar Challenge in 2007 where the major enviornment
award was won, ‘Betty’ is able to use excellent fuel economy and carbon output figures have acheived approximately
3.5 l/100km while releasing only 71g/km of CO2.
“This experience showed that biodiesel can be used to power
a commercial-type vehicle over long distances and that it can have a significant, positive impact on the environment,”
Dr Kestell states.
Carter and Betty will start their trek in Adelaide, heading south-east to Melbourne, then up
to the east coast for an anti-clockwise trip of Australia.
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