The Biodiesel Adventure team from Japan is driving around the world in a stock diesel Toyota Landcruiser. They have built a beautiful biodiesel processing unit into the cargo area of the SUV. They stop at restaurants and schools to collect waste vegetable oil, convert it into biodiesel, then move on. Their mission is to demonstrate sustainability and spur discussion. These guys are educating, exploring and meeting people wherever they go, and it's a very cool thing.

So far they have driven over 8000 miles and used no petroleum diesel at all, and have made almost all of the biodiesel themselves. Shusei Yamada, Tatsuya Ito and Satori Murata, came through the Washington, DC area on Earth Day on the final days of the U.S. leg of their journey.

I arranged for them to do a presentation at Sandy Spring Friends School (which met with much excitement from the students) and through my friend Julie Gabrielli, another school presentation at Roland Park Country School in Baltimore. Local news coverage of their visit is here. We also put them up for a couple of days in my father's home where they had some much-needed R&R.

I finally got to meet them in person yesterday in a Quiznos parking lot near the Baltimore Washington International Airport. I was flying back from speaking at Jane Goodall's Global Youth Summit in Orlando and they were on their way to drop off the Landcruiser at the Port of Baltimore so it could be shipped to Europe for the next leg. We had only an hour together, but it was clear that we were kindred spirits. A video of our encounter is here.

In an email update to the tour's supporters today, Satori writes "We keep telling people that our car runs on biodiesel, but your passion and hearts are our real fuel."

I hope our paths cross again soon.