The Green Team; Wayne Keith, Dave Gamble, and David Bransby have given their Dogde truck a new coat of paint and are ready to begin their journey to Berkeley. They will be traveling across the country from Charleston, SC to Berkeley, CA with several stops along the way fueled by nothing but biomass in their downdraft gasifier. When they arrive here they will be seasoned and ready to compete in the Escape From Berkeley rally as the first leg of their journey home. We can’t wait for them to come see what we have going on here at Shipyard Labs.

Putting together an event this fantastic requires financial support. Help make Escape From Berkeley a success through sponsorship. You can purchase a portion of the race route, or a specific landmark along the way. The 622 miles of route are being sold for $25 a mile. Purchase as many miles as you like. Firetrucks, brothels, and old mines along the way are also available for “purchase.”

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Paul Saffo and Michael Michael have confirmed that they will participate as members of the Escape From Berkeley judging panel. Members of the judging panel will select the winning entries for a set of awards celebrating art and innovation. The following awards will be presented to teams at the awards ceremony in Las Vegas, NV.

- Most difficult engineering problem attempted
- Most energy conversion steps between source and road
- Worst idea actually made to kind of work- Sexiest vehicle on the road
- Worst affront to sensible automotive aesthetics
- Smallest GHG footprint between Berkeley and Vegas

Paul Saffo is a forecaster and essayist with over two decades experience exploring long-term technological change and its practical impact on business and society. He currently teaches at Stanford University and is a Visiting Scholar in the Stanford Media X research network.

Michael Michael rides the edge of community, art, technology and culture. He is one of the principal organizers of the Burning Man art festival in Nevada and the organizing force behind the Cacophony Society, a social network dedicated to the pursuit of experiences beyond the mainstream.

We will be continuing with the open shop weekend all summer long.  This is for people in the area working on a vehicle to come and freely use the shop space at Shipyard Labs.  This is a great opportunity for people to meet, get advice and ideas, partner up, or find ways to help make the event as a whole a success.  Shipyard labs boasts some very useful tools, a full metal shop, and car lifts.  We were very excited by all of the incredible new schemes we heard about last weekend - and can’t wait to see them take shape.  If you want to check things out stop by on one of the dates below.

Open Shop Dates (12-8 each day):

•  July 19th & 2oth
• August 9th & 10th
• September 20th & 21st
• September 27th & 28th

Click here for directions

Lots got done today during the open shop at Shipyard Labs. We lit some stuff on fire, made some loud noises and talked about energy. Jim worked on his gasifier with Eric. Charlie and Bill played with an interesting stove design Bill brought to show us. Bear was working on parts for another GEK unit. Lots of people came to check out the work going on. We are enthralled by all of the different vehicle schemes people are proposing for the event.

We are doing it all again tomorrow. Come by to meet people, become part of a team, or work on your vehicle. Work will be going on from noon-8 pm. If you can’t make it - don’t worry - we will be doing this one weekend a month until the event.

We are starting a free monthly open shop weekend at Shipyard Labs in Berkeley, CA for people interested in building vehicles for the Escape from Berkeley (by any non-petroleum means necessary) event. The first one is Saturday and Sunday, June 7th-8th, 2008. Shipyard Labs is a full fabrication machine shop. During the open shop weekend tools will be available for free use to those working on entries for the event.

If you need space and/or people help, and/or company while you build your vehicle, we encourage you to come build with us. This is also an excellent opportunity to come learn more about the event, find a team to work with, or a way in which you can volunteer for the event itself. For more information contact Rachael Norman at rachael@escapefromberkeley.com.

Interested in joining the race?  Wondering who else is crazy enough to do so?  Want to know more about community resources for the design and fabrication of an alternatively fueled vehicle?  Come visit us at the Maker Fair this weekend May 3rd and 4th at the San Mateo County Fairgrounds.

This October, NASA scientists and junkyard fabricators once again square off in the perennial battle of engineering prowess and creative excess - this time with bragging rights for saving-the-world somewhat hanging in the balance. DARPA had Grand Challenge, the rednecks a Cannonball Run, the truckers a Convoy, and the hippies a bunch of WVO buses broken down on the side of the road.  Now the collected geek tribes propose to start their “engines” on something other than a petroleum based fuel, and cause their varied schemes for land based transport to escape from Berkeley, and somehow, by some means, show up in Las Vegas three days later, using only fuels/power/motive force scavenged “for free” along the route.