Shell Eco-marathon in California

In a recent media dinner with Shell, they shared with me a really cool event that has been ongoing for years and unfortunately escaped my green radar.

Shell's Eco-marathon invites students from all over the world to design and build the world's most fuel-efficient vehicle and produce the fewest emissions. Teams can enter two main categories:

• Futuristic prototypes - which are streamlined vehicles where the primary design consideration is reducing drag and maximizing efficiency
  

• Urban Concept vehicles - which are built to more conventional 4-wheel roadworthy criteria (new to the Americas event in 2009)

Either conventional fuels such as diesel, gasoline and LPG, OR alternative fuels such as solar, electric, hydrogen, bio-fuels and GTL can be used to power vehicles. The goal of the project is not to break speed records or be the first to finish; it is to consume as little fuel as possible over a set distance.

The Eco-marathon has been ongoing in Europe for 25 years and in 2007, Shell started the Eco-marathon Americas, which again will be held this year this time in Fontana, California, on April 15-18.

Watch the vid to learn more about it. Shell will hold this year's Eco-marathon Europe on May 7-9 in Germany while a brand new Eco-marathon Asia will be held next year in Malaysia.

Shell said the marathon started in 1939 as the 'Shell Mileage Marathon' when a friendly wager between scientists at Shell Oil's research laboratory in Wood River, Illinois, tried to find who could get the most miles per gallon from their vehicles.