Earthrace is a 24 metre speedboat fueled 100 percent by biodiesel. The New Zealand built craft was in Vancouver last week in preparation for its upcoming challenge to the world record for global circumnavigation by a powerboat.
Earthrace team members calculate that with a top speed of 45 knots, or 90 km-h, a 10,000 litre fuel capacity and range of 3,000 nautical miles, their boat has the performance to beat the standing 75 day world record by at least 10 days.
The racecraft is powered by a pair of Cummins Mercruiser QSC-540 diesel engines, which have received no special modification or adjustment for biodiesel. The captain allows only biodiesel, buying whatever renewable diesel replacement fuel he can find in the ports along the 24,000 kilometre voyage. A support team arranges for these fuel stops in advance.
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Upon arriving in Vancouver after the Pacific crossing, Earthrace fueled up with B100 supplied by West Coast Biodiesel, a Canadian company that specializes in environmentally friendly rendering and recycling.
“As partial sponsors of the project, we supplied them with 100 percent tallow fuel,” said Rob Jones of West Coast Biodiesel.
“The high cetane rating you get with a tallow-based biodiesel makes it the best fuel for something like this, where outright performance and environmental concerns come together in the same project,” Jones said.
“A crop-based biodiesel has a cetane level of around 47 to 48. The cetane level of an animal-based biodiesel is 54 to 55. Tallow gives you better burn performance, better emissions control and better power at the same time.”
With prairie rendering plants in Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary and Lethbridge, West Coast Biodiesel is the largest rendering company in Western Canada.
Jones said the company runs a B40 blend in all its trucks, none of which have been altered for biodiesel. He said the only thing a person needs to do is check the fuel filters carefully for the first few months because the fuel acts like a solvent and tends to clean up the tank and fuel lines.
After extensive planning and sea trials, Earthrace is expected to launch the world record assault in March 2007.
For further information, visit www.earthrace.net.
