I'll just paint the sceene which is my living room this evening. I'm on the only available tiny corner of the couch, next to me is a massive projector that Dave from Big Picture has given the expedition for the outdoor cinema. It's got a couple of broken pixels (which actually I couldnt find) so it's no use to him any longer.
The coffe table is covered in low energy light bulbs and LEDs that Katie from the Good Energy Shop sent me, and there is also a smattering of part that arrived today from Adrian at Oilbits which I need to complete the oil filtration system.
Against the wall in front of me is a board from the side of a wardrobe which was on our street last week, and is going to become the kitchen countertop. And on the floor by it, is a load of shower taps and plumpbing bits for the sink.
Under the coffee table is a tool box my friend gave me which is full of old nuts and bolts and a few spanners. Next to that is pile of foam inserts I'll use to pack equipment into the bus. But best of all is the hallway, which is completely taken up by the Abaca organic mattress that Ceri sent me.
I'm sitting in darkness cos I can't actually get to the light switches.
Esther has gone to Brussels for the weekend austensibly to see friends but I think the transformation of the living room into a workshop has probably had much to do with her exodus.
Everytime something else arrives the excitement of converting this bus just builds. I can't wait to get it back and get it finished.
Friday, 7 August 2009
Media Whore
This week I've been turning my attention to the PR campaign which will get underway in a few days. Its also indirectly the cause of the delay. I need to have images to go with the press releases I send out, and that means the bus needs to be painted first, and the sponsors logos have to be put on.
The aim was to get all this done by Monday morning and launch the campaign then, but with the ongoing complexity of passing the MOT there's no only a very small chance this will happen in time.
The latest with the MOT is that it needs to eithe have a driver seatbelt, which is very dificult to fit, or it needs to have at least 8 seats so it can be classed as a motorhome. It's a ridiculous formality which has no relevence on the safety or suitability of the vehicle.
Currently there is a drivers seat, 4 seats around a table, and the composting toilet, which can be classed as seats, so we only need 2 more. Wayne is trying to get something sorted. I suggested ratchet strapping a sofa in to the back, or screwing in some garden furniture. Bizarely the rules make no distinction about how secured the seats have to be. But the MOT testing centre are being unnecassarily strict because they know the bus is going to be on telly, and "someone from VOSA might be watching".
In my experience the guys at VOSA are either at work, OR watching TV.
The advantage of a press coverage is manyfold. First of all its quite fun being a celebrity for 15 minutes, but moreover it's the most powerful way to get the message out about the 2-tonne target across and drive traffic to the site.
The trips I've done in the past which have been covered by the media have gone really well, because when people have heard about you, read about you, or seen you on the telly, they know what you are doing and are therefore instantly on your side and obstructions turn into open doors.
We were on the TV in Greece, with the rally last year, and the next day while we were helping ourselves to oil from the bins at a motorway service station, the junior manager caught us and started shouting that we were thieves and she was calling the police. Before we could make our getaway, (and believe me we did try to make a run for it), the other manager came out and instantly recognised us from the TV. Instantly we were transformed in their eyes from thieves to honourable adventurers.
On the Timbuktu trip we were stuck in Tangiers port for seven days, because the customs wanted a financial guarantee we'd exit the country with all the vehicles we'd entered with. They calculated this to be about €50,000, which we had no way of paying. But they said they would accept a letter from the British Conuslate. We went to see her and as soon as I showed her the feature the Daily Mail had run on me, she said "We can't be seen not to help you if you are in the Daily Mail". In fairness she would have helped us anyway but it goes to show the power of the press.
That's really the big payback of getting media attention. It helps achieve things that are otherwise harder or impossible, although I dare say there will be times on this journey where it might make things worse.
Over the years I've built up an enormous media list of journalists interested in following these sustainable escapades, (about 3000 address at the last count). Just before departure, I send them all a press release and then the phone goes usually mental for the rest of the day.
The challenge is writting a press release that makes the adventure sound quirky enough to spark some interest, and yet serious enough that there's a story behind it.
I've found the TV interviews illicit the biggest response from my friends texting to say I've just seen you on the telly. But as a medium for getting the enviomental message across, it's shit. They are just interested in the quirky "and finally" aspect of Man-and-Chip-Fat, and the environmental message is patronised into oblivion. Getting an interview of 1m40 is a really luxurious honour, but then most of it gets frittered away by the interviewer waffeling on about how bonkers I am.
Print can be hit and miss, they cover the enviromental side in more depth, but usually get a few facts or figures painfully wrong at some stage in the process. Being in the papers is probably the most helpful for the expedition, as you can take the cuttings with you, and there is something about cuttings that exude a sense of gravitas, sometimes more weighty than your actuall passport.
Radio is my favourite. They give you time to talk, they have a laugh, they cover all the bases, and you are reaching a lot of people in quite an intimate way. I love doing radio interviews.
But there's always the fear that you get no interest at all, and to some extent all PR campaigns rely a lot on keeping fingers crossed.
The aim was to get all this done by Monday morning and launch the campaign then, but with the ongoing complexity of passing the MOT there's no only a very small chance this will happen in time.
The latest with the MOT is that it needs to eithe have a driver seatbelt, which is very dificult to fit, or it needs to have at least 8 seats so it can be classed as a motorhome. It's a ridiculous formality which has no relevence on the safety or suitability of the vehicle.
Currently there is a drivers seat, 4 seats around a table, and the composting toilet, which can be classed as seats, so we only need 2 more. Wayne is trying to get something sorted. I suggested ratchet strapping a sofa in to the back, or screwing in some garden furniture. Bizarely the rules make no distinction about how secured the seats have to be. But the MOT testing centre are being unnecassarily strict because they know the bus is going to be on telly, and "someone from VOSA might be watching".
In my experience the guys at VOSA are either at work, OR watching TV.
The advantage of a press coverage is manyfold. First of all its quite fun being a celebrity for 15 minutes, but moreover it's the most powerful way to get the message out about the 2-tonne target across and drive traffic to the site.
The trips I've done in the past which have been covered by the media have gone really well, because when people have heard about you, read about you, or seen you on the telly, they know what you are doing and are therefore instantly on your side and obstructions turn into open doors.
We were on the TV in Greece, with the rally last year, and the next day while we were helping ourselves to oil from the bins at a motorway service station, the junior manager caught us and started shouting that we were thieves and she was calling the police. Before we could make our getaway, (and believe me we did try to make a run for it), the other manager came out and instantly recognised us from the TV. Instantly we were transformed in their eyes from thieves to honourable adventurers.
On the Timbuktu trip we were stuck in Tangiers port for seven days, because the customs wanted a financial guarantee we'd exit the country with all the vehicles we'd entered with. They calculated this to be about €50,000, which we had no way of paying. But they said they would accept a letter from the British Conuslate. We went to see her and as soon as I showed her the feature the Daily Mail had run on me, she said "We can't be seen not to help you if you are in the Daily Mail". In fairness she would have helped us anyway but it goes to show the power of the press.
That's really the big payback of getting media attention. It helps achieve things that are otherwise harder or impossible, although I dare say there will be times on this journey where it might make things worse.
Over the years I've built up an enormous media list of journalists interested in following these sustainable escapades, (about 3000 address at the last count). Just before departure, I send them all a press release and then the phone goes usually mental for the rest of the day.
The challenge is writting a press release that makes the adventure sound quirky enough to spark some interest, and yet serious enough that there's a story behind it.
I've found the TV interviews illicit the biggest response from my friends texting to say I've just seen you on the telly. But as a medium for getting the enviomental message across, it's shit. They are just interested in the quirky "and finally" aspect of Man-and-Chip-Fat, and the environmental message is patronised into oblivion. Getting an interview of 1m40 is a really luxurious honour, but then most of it gets frittered away by the interviewer waffeling on about how bonkers I am.
Print can be hit and miss, they cover the enviromental side in more depth, but usually get a few facts or figures painfully wrong at some stage in the process. Being in the papers is probably the most helpful for the expedition, as you can take the cuttings with you, and there is something about cuttings that exude a sense of gravitas, sometimes more weighty than your actuall passport.
Radio is my favourite. They give you time to talk, they have a laugh, they cover all the bases, and you are reaching a lot of people in quite an intimate way. I love doing radio interviews.
But there's always the fear that you get no interest at all, and to some extent all PR campaigns rely a lot on keeping fingers crossed.
Monday, 3 August 2009
Euro Zero to Euro Hero.
The departure deadline of August the 15th which I rashly set last week in a bid to chivvy everyone along is now looking flaky again!
I got a lot done before leaving the workshop on Middle Farm, but there are still plenty of jobs that need finishing up, and some might not get done until we are underway.
Most things are fitted to the bus, but hardly anything is actually commissioned and working yet.
In a way this isn't critical to the departure, because we can set a lot of these things up along the journey.
My big concern is the tank. I've had no way to check if it has any leaks, and won't know until we fill it. I have a plastic welding kit ready to plug any leaks but at this stage the tank can't be removed or replaced so it will have to be repaired if it does have a problem.
Likewise for Oilybits plumbing system which as of this weekend is all installed, but for a few hose-clips and drain hoses. We won't know if there are any weeping joints until it's working.
The solar system is all installed but again not wired up and I have just now ordered the mother of all batteries (200Ah, and weighs almost 70kg). I'm fretting about the current demands on the cabling I have salvaged from an office refurb, and am waiting to hear back from John an electrician friend (who is also preparing a bicycle for me made out of salvaged spare parts he has lying around) about current rating on this cable I have.
The hydrogen generator is also installed, but until I have power from the PV cells, I can't hook it up, and until I have the thermostatic cut out switch I ordered from an EBayer in China 3 weeks ago, I'm worried about overloading it and setting fire to the bus.
I spoke to Euro Tunnel this week and hopefully they will take us across the channel, although obviously they are concerned about the fuel tanks and hydrogen. I joked that the composting toilet is more of a bio-hazard, misjudging how seriously they take safety and probably blew our chances using the tunnel. Its a pity because it's powered by French Nuclear electricity so has a low carbon footprint and would be a help in keeping our impact down. We'll find out this week.
Meanwhile, Wayne and Adam have been doing an amazing job of servicing the bus. In their old haulage yard they have steadily worked their way through everything - a list longer than first expected - to prepare it for MOT testing. They've fitted a particulate filter which takes the emissions from Pre-Euro rating (ie Euro 0) to Euro 4, (a brand new bus is currently Euro 5). Not bad for a 20 year old bus. With a few more modifications they could bring it up to Euro 6!
They are also servicing the gearbox oil with a synthetic oil that will increase efficiency and adding a dosing pump for a Platinum based fuel additive (1 part in 3000) that reduces emissions and improves efficiency. Seeing the work these guys do has been the most inspiring part of the project so far because it shows that you can turn old vehicles into really green vehicles.
If the work takes longer to do than planned, then so be it, and we'll leave later than planned. That's all. I have to keep reminding myself that if this happens, it's no big deal, and everyone will understand.
I got a lot done before leaving the workshop on Middle Farm, but there are still plenty of jobs that need finishing up, and some might not get done until we are underway.
Most things are fitted to the bus, but hardly anything is actually commissioned and working yet.
In a way this isn't critical to the departure, because we can set a lot of these things up along the journey.
My big concern is the tank. I've had no way to check if it has any leaks, and won't know until we fill it. I have a plastic welding kit ready to plug any leaks but at this stage the tank can't be removed or replaced so it will have to be repaired if it does have a problem.
Likewise for Oilybits plumbing system which as of this weekend is all installed, but for a few hose-clips and drain hoses. We won't know if there are any weeping joints until it's working.
The solar system is all installed but again not wired up and I have just now ordered the mother of all batteries (200Ah, and weighs almost 70kg). I'm fretting about the current demands on the cabling I have salvaged from an office refurb, and am waiting to hear back from John an electrician friend (who is also preparing a bicycle for me made out of salvaged spare parts he has lying around) about current rating on this cable I have.
The hydrogen generator is also installed, but until I have power from the PV cells, I can't hook it up, and until I have the thermostatic cut out switch I ordered from an EBayer in China 3 weeks ago, I'm worried about overloading it and setting fire to the bus.
I spoke to Euro Tunnel this week and hopefully they will take us across the channel, although obviously they are concerned about the fuel tanks and hydrogen. I joked that the composting toilet is more of a bio-hazard, misjudging how seriously they take safety and probably blew our chances using the tunnel. Its a pity because it's powered by French Nuclear electricity so has a low carbon footprint and would be a help in keeping our impact down. We'll find out this week.
Meanwhile, Wayne and Adam have been doing an amazing job of servicing the bus. In their old haulage yard they have steadily worked their way through everything - a list longer than first expected - to prepare it for MOT testing. They've fitted a particulate filter which takes the emissions from Pre-Euro rating (ie Euro 0) to Euro 4, (a brand new bus is currently Euro 5). Not bad for a 20 year old bus. With a few more modifications they could bring it up to Euro 6!
They are also servicing the gearbox oil with a synthetic oil that will increase efficiency and adding a dosing pump for a Platinum based fuel additive (1 part in 3000) that reduces emissions and improves efficiency. Seeing the work these guys do has been the most inspiring part of the project so far because it shows that you can turn old vehicles into really green vehicles.
If the work takes longer to do than planned, then so be it, and we'll leave later than planned. That's all. I have to keep reminding myself that if this happens, it's no big deal, and everyone will understand.
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Deadline.
I'm a bit fused by the build. The process is classic organic itterative design; try it, realise it would be better another way and take it all apart again.
Only 14 days to go before the bus and I are evicted. It's been on a friends farmyard for far too long. And now that I am working on it full time the weather is slowing progress.
On good days I've been able to get lots done, especially with Esther helping. She;s back down here next weekend. We've got all the body work panels on apart from one which I left open so we could pass big stuff in and out of the vehicle (and another one where the window frame is now too small for the glass after welding the frame). Inside I've used the non-itch insulation to fill the cavity, and ply to board up the inside. I've been learning my way with some of the power tools, so some of my right angles are hit and miss.
Today I made a great discovery, with the silicon gun you can stop it spurting out excess after you finish by releasing the pressure on the spring. I'm sure anyone that's used a silicon gun knows this, but its so satisfying not to be wasting loads of silicon.
Today was a big milestone. The tank went into place. I've built the frame work for the bed above it which hinges up so I can access the tank for trouble shooting. I just hope it all stays screwed together. I've used parts from 3 different single beds to make a double. - all fished out of skips.
The now oversize window is being ground down, although this can make toughened glass shatter. Fingers crossed it works, and that it's then the right size.
I still have to put on the skirts, wheel arches, solar panels, fit kitchen area, composting toilet, plumb it, electrify it all, and get the engine running again.
Good news is that Wayne Bint, who owns a bus garage and previously worked for Mercedes for years has agreed to help get the bus through it's MOT, fit a particulate filter, and get be a spares basket of used parts. Brilliant.
Only 14 days to go before the bus and I are evicted. It's been on a friends farmyard for far too long. And now that I am working on it full time the weather is slowing progress.
On good days I've been able to get lots done, especially with Esther helping. She;s back down here next weekend. We've got all the body work panels on apart from one which I left open so we could pass big stuff in and out of the vehicle (and another one where the window frame is now too small for the glass after welding the frame). Inside I've used the non-itch insulation to fill the cavity, and ply to board up the inside. I've been learning my way with some of the power tools, so some of my right angles are hit and miss.
Today I made a great discovery, with the silicon gun you can stop it spurting out excess after you finish by releasing the pressure on the spring. I'm sure anyone that's used a silicon gun knows this, but its so satisfying not to be wasting loads of silicon.
Today was a big milestone. The tank went into place. I've built the frame work for the bed above it which hinges up so I can access the tank for trouble shooting. I just hope it all stays screwed together. I've used parts from 3 different single beds to make a double. - all fished out of skips.
The now oversize window is being ground down, although this can make toughened glass shatter. Fingers crossed it works, and that it's then the right size.
I still have to put on the skirts, wheel arches, solar panels, fit kitchen area, composting toilet, plumb it, electrify it all, and get the engine running again.
Good news is that Wayne Bint, who owns a bus garage and previously worked for Mercedes for years has agreed to help get the bus through it's MOT, fit a particulate filter, and get be a spares basket of used parts. Brilliant.
Saturday, 4 July 2009
Homefield School Genesis
I was invited as the guest of honour to Homefield Preparatory School in South London. What a great school, and some very smart kids. I was honoured to meet most of them as I presented prizes for sport and academic achievement.
While planning the talk, I developed a couple of ideas for involving the children from this, and hopefully many other schools in the project.
Firstly I’d like the children to help me with researching energy projects along the route. I’d like them to find schemes around the world where energy is being generated in a sustainable (or unsustainable) way that I can visit and document with video and images. Also I’d like to send me questions for me to find out about the energy being generated.
On a practical point, we’ll find a way of always having our immediate destination listed on the website as well as our current location to limit the geographical scope of their research. And I will produce some simple lesson plans for teachers to help them structure the research.
Then if I’m able to visit and find out the answers I’ll post the answers back to the site with video.
Secondly, I’d like kids to take the Biotruck Pledge, and tell me about their carbon saving. Again through the expedition site and external sites, kids (and adults) will be able to calculate their footprint saving and post it on the web.
At the end of the expedition we’ll total up the CO2 saving from all our followers.
Based on the response from Homefield School, where the idea was very warmly welcomed, I think this could be a really exciting aspect of the project.
The end of CAS
My involvement in the Catlin Arctic Survey has to come the end. After going in to advise about a webcasting system, I then became the Science Project Co-ordinator, and just before the end, because it’s all been such a success, I decided to give myself a promotion to the Science Project Director.
I got the opportunity to meet and learn from the worlds leading sea ice scientists.
I’ve now facilitated ongoing development of the data collected by the survey by Cambridge University, in collaboration with WWF, and after this Biotruck Expedition I hope to go back to the join the team.
I’ve never had the opportunity to work with such a bright, motivated and talented team as Simon, Chip, Dom, Becks, and Gaby, and I really want to go back to working with them when I return to the UK.
I got the opportunity to meet and learn from the worlds leading sea ice scientists.
I’ve now facilitated ongoing development of the data collected by the survey by Cambridge University, in collaboration with WWF, and after this Biotruck Expedition I hope to go back to the join the team.
I’ve never had the opportunity to work with such a bright, motivated and talented team as Simon, Chip, Dom, Becks, and Gaby, and I really want to go back to working with them when I return to the UK.
www.biotruckexpedition.com
This blog is now on the website's holding page: www.biotruckexpedition.com
More developments of the site will be happening over the next 2 weeks.
More developments of the site will be happening over the next 2 weeks.
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