
It would be easy to go back to my last post on September 24 and change the sentence "I'll be posting a complete update tomorrow" to something like "I'll be posting a complete update next month" or "before 2008." Blogger technology does allow one to cover one's tracks that way.
But I have been leaving it as written, in the hopes that mounting guilt would finally prod me to post that promised account of the Energy Festival. I should know by know that guilt isn't a goad to action -- it's dead weight that only adds to inertia, or the tendency of a body at rest to remain at rest.
Like the e-van, this blog has been inert for the last month, but this week it's springing back to life upon receipt of the good news that the replacement motor has been delivered! On Thursday I'll bring a new transmission down to Bill and this weekend the two should be reunited and the e-Vanagon back on its feet -- er, wheels.
So it's time to post a few photos and that long-awaited report on the 3rd annual Pennsylvania Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Festival in Kempton, PA. I can't deny that it was a disappointment not to be showcasing the e-Vanagon there. It was a gorgeous weekend, and Philip Jones of MAREA and the EEVC did an amazing job putting together (for the first time at the festival) a Transportation Tent featuring alternative transportation solutions. The tent featured 26 display vehicles and three days' worth of presentations and forums on alternative fuel technology.
Display vehicles included a converted Volkswagen pickup truck and 1986 Ford Escort, as well as a home-brewed plug-in hybrid Chevy S10. Production EV's were also on display; the Boyertown Museum of Historical Vehicles shared a 1919 Detroit Electric Coupe and a mid-century electric scooter, while collector Don Young brought a 1968 Mars EV and a GE Elec-Trak electric tractor from the same era.
Besides pure electrics, numerous examples of hybrid technology were showcased, including a diesel-electric school bus (one of only eight in the country) that serves the Nazareth PA school district. Penn State showed off one of the few surviving GM EV1's, which was converted by their Hybrid Hydrogen Research Program to a fuel cell-electric hybrid, while Toyota also showcased a fuel cell-electric hybrid Highlander. Several Priuses were on display thanks to fervent owners from Massachusetts, including Jesse Rudavsky -- who has driven his first-generation Prius over 322,000 miles on all original batteries, transmission, engine and motor -- and the hypermiling evangelist known as the Hobbit, who showed off his mpg-increasing mods and offered a workshop on optimizing Prius mileage.
Biofuel vehicles were also well-represented at the tent. There were several demonstrations of biodiesel brewing, and Fossil Free Fuel of Pittsburgh offered two one-day workshops during which a farm tractor and a car were converted to run on WVO.
Meanwhile, of course, dozens of other informative workshops and lectures were taking place on topics ranging from renewable energy to sustainable agriculture to green building. The vendor hall was full of displays from green businesses and nonprofits, the farmers' market did a brisk business in eggs, meat, vegetables, wool, and other products from small PA farms, Arm-of-the-Sea Theater brought its touring "Turtle Island Medicine Show" complete with masks and giant puppets, and -- unlike at most festivals -- the food was healthy, largely local/organic, and served up in compostable disposable containers! My whole family loves this festival. The setting (nestled at the foot of Hawk Mountain in Kempton, PA) could not be more beautiful. I recommend it unreservedly -- if you have a 2008 calendar, pencil in the weekend of September 20 & 21 and join us next year!
Now, a few pictures (I did a bad job of documenting anything but the electric cars, I'm afraid -- I don't know what I was thinking, guess I was too busy running around visiting our favorite exhibitors: Bogansky's Milk and Honey Farm, Sheep Shelter Farm along with our friends Grace and Natalie Carabetta, Woodsong Hollow Farm, Clothesline Organics, Hundred-Fold Farm, Joyce Moore Financial Services, The Heat Shed, 3 Sisters Center for the Healing Arts, The Farm at Coventry, Renewable Energy Solutions, and Close the Loop, to name a few!)
Sorry about the big hiatus, everyone, and I look forward to sharing the news that the eVan's rolling again! Meanwhile thanks are due to Dennis for motivating me to get down to updating this blog, and to all of you for following along.
PS - We had lots of great conversations with people at the Energy Fest, but if you were one of the people interested in hearing about next summer's EV conversion workshop, please email me at info@buckscountyrenewables.com to make sure you're on our mailing list. Especially if you're that guy who grew up working on a farm -- I wrote your info down on the wrong clipboard and it went home with one of the biodiesel people!
2 comments:
shucks.
-d
More update us! Is it going - is this worth while to do? What difficulties other than charging? Come on - you left us all hanging. Or did the guys that killed the electric car pull you over?
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