The adventure has begun.
An audacious group, including several scientists, an ophthalmologist, logistician, cinematographer and others, has set off on a five-month expedition across the African continent in a beautiful, vintage black Citroën Traction-Avant.
During their trek in the 1920s-era car, the crew will make stops in Niger, Cameroon, Kenya, Zambia, Botswana and several other towns before arriving in Madagascar in June. They will make this transcontinental automotive trek in a classic beauty fueled solely by biofuel supplied by Lyondell.
No, this isn't reality TV gone green. It's Biotreck Africa 2007, the first of several annual, transcontinental automotive expeditions intended to raise public interest and awareness of biodiversity and eco-development. One of the cars used in the expeditions will be fueled by 100 percent bio-ETBE, a clean-burning, high-octane component blended into gasoline.
Bio-ETBE, for which wheat and sugar beets are primary ingredients, contributes to improved air quality, notably through reduced VOC (volatile organic compounds) emissions and helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide. Lyondell is one of the world's leading bio-ETBE producers, and it produces bio-ETBE at its facilities in Fos-sur-Mer, France, and Botlek, The Netherlands.
The Biotreck Africa group will travel the historic paths of past explorers while studying sustainable eco-development. With the support of Opthalmos Without Frontiers – a European government organization – an ophthalmologist among the group will conduct eye exams and provide glasses to villagers in need of vision care.
Biotreck Africa is being lead by adventurer Eric Massiet Du Biest, who’s spent 20 years crisscrossing 50 countries and eight deserts in classic cars. Du Biest once completed a world tour in two 1953 Citroën Tractions in 18 months. On another tour, he traveled the world in 80 days in a 1922 American steam car.
As the expedition makes its winding way through the African landscape, online visitors can travel virtually with the group by visiting www.biotreck.org to read Du Biest’s blog and other stories, view photos and live Web cam images, and watch 52-minute chronological documentaries following the trek.
Biotreck Africa will end in Madagascar with an international symposium where scientists will convene to discuss biodiversity and the use of biotechnologies. Future biotrecks are planned for Asia, Australia, America and Europe.