Conversations with Eric Skjerseth

Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Skjerseth.

Hi Eric, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Biodiesel for Bands was founded by John Ragnar Long and Eric Skjerseth in 2012. Our intention was to create a nonprofit that would educate and serve touring musicians and artists by utilizing used cooking oil to make biodiesel. Starting with the knowledge that waste cooking oil from restaurants could fuel the entire music industry 5 times over, we set out to build a nationwide network of biodiesel fueling stations/artist’s hubs. In 2012, biodiesel was the only feasible alternative fuel that could allow artists to quit fossil fuels. Biodiesel has 82% less CO2, 50% less particulate matter, and 99% less carcinogenic emissions than petroleum diesel. We interviewed hundreds of musicians and other touring artists. We performed feasibility studies to determine the best way to build this network. We had dozens of restaurants sign up to donate their used cooking oil to our pilot program. We also met a billionaire who loved our idea and pledged hundreds of thousands of dollars to our start up once we received our official nonprofit status from the IRS.
The IRS was wary of our plan to build a nonprofit that would generate its own income, through green vehicle rentals and biodiesel sales. It took three rounds of negotiations and adjustments to our business model to finally receive our 501c3 from the IRS. This is how STAMP (Sustainable Touring for Artists, Musicians, and Performers) was born. STAMP would be the nonprofit that educates artists to be sustainable and successful in their craft and BFB would be an artist and employee-owned company that would build a nationwide network to make fossil fuel free travel possible and affordable. The IRS called STAMP a “flagship program” allowing a nonprofit to partner with a for profit company to raise funds for its programs while educating future customers (and owners) for Biodiesel for Bands. During the 18 months of going back and forth with the IRS, we provided safe rides to over 2000 concert goers in biodiesel fueled buses, we developed partnerships with restaurants, a grease collection company and a biodiesel factory in Kansas. We fueled several music festivals with clean burning biodiesel. We kept tons of CO2 out the atmosphere, removing the smell and particulate nastiness of diesel exhaust from the festival grounds. We both worked tirelessly and went into debt so that we’d ready for the pledged start up funds. We were so ready. We kept in close contact with the billionaire’s representative during this time, and several times we were assured that as soon as our 501c3 determination letter arrived we could expect the pledged donation. On July 6th of 2015 STAMP was granted official nonprofit status. All our attempts to contact the billionaire and their representative were ignored. They ghosted us. They did not reply to us until November, when they sent a new employee to tell us that there would be no donation, no loan, and that what had been promised to us repeatedly was being withdrawn. This was the 2nd piece of terrible news we were dealt in 2015. John had been diagnosed with colon cancer earlier that year. In October, he was given 6 months to live. He resigned as the CEO of Biodiesel for Bands to fight, not only his own cancer, but to help others in their battles against it. He lived for two more years and helped so many people before his life was cut short too soon. In those two years, he remained on as an advisor working closely with me to rebuild. We started working ourselves out of the hole the billionaire’s lies left us in. It was not easy. Our credit ratings were destroyed. We had no access to capital for growth or expansion. I took over as CEO of BFB and executive director of STAMP. We fueled many more music festivals, formed partnerships and expanded our concert shuttle operations. We became a trusted and affordable wedding charter company. Our services were becoming popular. We started offering transportation and logistics services to conferences and festivals. STAMP began to offer educational modules and launched our Road Scholar program, which took up and coming bands on a 3 day tour to teach them the ropes of planning and negotiating a tour and in 2019 BFB grossed over $100,000 in revenue for the first time. 2020 bookings were at an all-time high and our credit rating was nearly to the point of being eligible for a small business loan. A wealthy father of the bride from one of our weddings wanted to divest some of his petroleum holdings and invest them into BFB. I was finally optimistic and I remember feeling like I was shifting out the survival mode I’d been in for so long and then a weird disease started to shut down concerts and eventually nearly everything. Concerts were the first events to shut down during the Covid pandemic. BFB shuttered our operations on March 13th of 2020 and I switched gears to delivering meals and other necessities to musicians and artists in our community. Covid not only shuttered our operations, it put our investor in a coma on a respirator for several weeks. When he came out of the coma, he was not the same. He barely remembered BFB or the many conversations we had. The pandemic shutdown decimated our credit rating making obtaining a loan impossible, again.
In 2021, it was becoming apparent that biodiesel was being replaced by Renewable Diesel, a product made from vegetable oil like biodiesel but superior in cold weather performance and storage life. Batteries were making electric vans and buses possible for touring. Hydrogen was coming onto the scene. I had to change the name to something bigger. I was digging through a dictionary and came across the word Planetary with “for the planet” as the definition. Biodiesel for Bands became Planetary Transport Company. I started rebuilding. I started doing consulting and logistics work for Neil Young. He did not want to burn a drop of petroleum if possible. I helped convert his amazing tour bus to run on SVO, biodiesel and renewable diesel. I worked closely with his bus driver to procure fuel. In 2022, in all his travels, he burned only 9 gallons of kerosene (petroleum) in his bus. The rest of the fuel used was clean-burning biodiesel or renewable diesel. That is an incredible feat that I’m very proud of being part of. I’m very proud of the organizations John and I built. Proud of 25,000 people safely driven to concerts and events. Proud of the tons of carbon we’ve kept out of the atmosphere. I am also disappointed because I know what could have been, and what can be accomplished with teamwork and funding. I am done operating in survival mode. It is time to thrive. The time is NOW! That is why I am focusing my efforts on raising funds with this WeFunder campaign and building membership in the Planetary Alliance. I’m asking every artist in the world to invest a days pay into owning shares of Planetary. Together we can build communities that are not subject to Big Oil’s whims and wars and greed and gouging. There are thousands of communities where Planetary’s business model will thrive. I want Planetary to operate in all of them, making them cleaner, greener, stronger, and safer. Here’s the thing I’ve learned over the past decade, almost everyone is an artist. Some are artists at music, painting, pottery, sculpture, and some are artists at cooking, farming, gardening, building, etc. I am asking everyone on this planet to invest in Planetary. To become members of the Planetary Alliance. For the planet. For our communities, for our friends and families and for the future.
Please check out the ways to be a part of the Planetary Alliance below and consider yourself invited to join us. Make an investment in Planetary or a tax deductible donation to STAMP today!
https://wefunder.com/planetarytransportcompany

Bands/Artists Memberships

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been incredibly challenging.
Most of the challenges are spelled out in the previous section.

Our biggest challenge was the loss of my partner to cancer. The second worst has been capital or the lack thereof and shady investor struggles. Covid hit us hard but we are on our way back.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am bass player and song writer. I’ve played in the bands, Zen Mothers, Inchfoot Yard, Wasabi, The Seers, and Delicious Hotdogs. I’ve toured and played in 24 states.
In 2012 I started the company Biodiesel for Bands with my co-founder John R. Long. Our goal was and remains to separate the entertainment industry from the petroleum industry..
I’m known for being the best party bus driver in Colorado, being a solid bass player, reducing the carbon footprint of bands, companies and music festivals.
One of the things I am most proud of is helping Neil Young stop using petroleum in his tour bus. My company has provided over 26,000 safe and fun rides to concerts and events while keeping over 25 tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere.

As far as I know there is no other company with a plan to make petroleum obsolete to the music industry.

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Financial backing and capital is very important to any movement. In order to accomplish the goal of a petroleum music and entertainment scene, it is going to take a large group of artists to join together and take ownership.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.PlanetaryTransportCompany.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/planetarytransportcompany/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlanetaryTransportCompany