[Big Dave]

We hope that Pepsi never does a follow-up on the kid's "Green Shield" bass-ackwards attempt at streamlining a low speed vehicle. If they do, the kid will be made to look like a world-class dope. He was trying, but he's just a kid.

But that doesn't mean school buses don't have potential in other areas.

Generally, I'm not a huge fan of hybrids because of their complexity (read: high cost, reliability problems) but the start-stop-start-stop routine of school bus operations is a logical place for true series hybrids.

A local university got some little city busses that are series hybrids and they use the buses for there remote-parking shuttle operations. They work OK, but some genius bought them with inefficient (14,000 BTU/kwh) microturbines. I guess the idea was to run on some unspecified alternative liquid fuel, but the reality is they run on No. 2 diesel. That said, a diesel generator would be more efficient (9,000 BTU/kwh).

School buses carry a light load, so you could pile a whole bunch of batteries on them and have a 20 HP generator and regenerative braking keep them charged up. School busses carry passengers high and have big empty spaces alongside the frame rails where you could put the batteries.

An engine that small probably would not keep that big cabin warm, so you'd need to add a propane heater.

Alternate fuel of choice: CNG. Lose the diesel or gas turbine and get a gas engine with no throttle. On or off - WOT or stopped. Simpler, cheaper, and no problem with the fuel clouding in winter.