My biofuel road trip: Hot as hell, eco-friendly

By Cody McCloy
CNN

GRAND CANYON WEST, Arizona (CNN) -- I was stranded in the Arizona desert in my broken-down truck wondering if I had made a big mistake: Our CNN.com biofuel road trip seemed doomed to fail.

CNN.com's Cody McCloy, left, and co-pilot Brian Hardy set out on their biofuel experiment on July 28.

My newly purchased 1978 International Harvester Scout quit on me during our very unscientific experiment to drive a biodiesel-powered truck from California to Georgia in two-weeks.

Under a hot sun, with no air conditioning in the truck, I feared that my Scout would be stolen while I went for help. Worse, I worried that I'd be forced to abandon the vehicle altogether and return home to Atlanta with my tail between my legs.

But two things happened as I sat in the middle of nowhere, a stone's throw from the Grand Canyon. One: I was reminded of the incredible capacity for people to help total strangers. And two: The Scout proved that it wasn't quite ready for the junk yard.

A very generous Grand Canyon West employee named Dave drove me and my co-pilot Brian Hardy two-and-a-half hours to Kingman. There, we rented a car and gathered hard-to-find auto parts that brought the Scout back to life.