The formula is simple, in order to make money, a band needs to produce music, promote it and tour like crazed animals to make sure it's heard.

With gas prices averaging near $4 a gallon — and diesel fuel costing an Abe Lincoln — profit can certainly take a hit, even to the point some bands will cancel cost prohibitive out-of-town shows.

One Pennsylvania band may have found its own solution as its members use what some call waste to power their vehicle down the great American highways.

Rise Phoenix Rise is traveling throughout the Eastern seaboard in a 1995 Prevost tour bus recently converted to run on biodiesel fuel — simply put, used cooking oil.

"We have two 60-gallon tanks on the bus that we use to store the oil. One of the tanks converts it into the fuel that we burn and then as it is burning the other tank is converting that oil," drummer Rob Hampton said. "We get about 10 hours of travel time on the two tanks."

Speaking from Key West, Fla., Hampton talked about making this particular trip from Pennsylvania, with a couple of stops along the way.

"We started from Pennsylvania, headed down to a stop in Johnson City, Tenn., where we filled up again with the oil but then it got a little hairy," Hampton said. "We came close to Key West but didn't want to chance it, so we pulled off the Interstate and pulled into a IHOP restaurant. Our tour manager went in an ordered a cup of coffee and asked to speak with the manager.

"After five minutes, we had the oil that we needed. The manager thought it was awesome what we we're doing."

Rise Phoenix Rise are among a growing list of musicians who've discovered the practicality and ease of using biodiesel to travel on tour.

One of the biggest names in music to use this technology is Willie Nelson, whose wife Annie, turned him on to the idea, according to a 2007 article on CNNMoney.com.

"My wife came to me and said, 'Hey, I want to buy this car that runs on vegetable oil,’ and I was a little skeptical naturally," Nelson was quoted in the article. "She bought a diesel Volkswagen Jetta that ran so well on vegetable oil — clean running and good gas mileage."

Hampton admits hearing that both he and Nelson have biodiesel in common was a bit surprising.

"We knew that we had to do something because if oil goes up to $200 a barrel, we are all going to have to find alternative fuel sources, and no one is going to be able to leave the house then," Hampton said. "It's only getting worse. Gas isn't going to come down."

With the idea of biodiesel in mind, the band sought the Prevost tour bus since regular recreational vehicles can't be converted.

"We paid about $6,000 for the conversion kit from a company called NGE out of Washington, D.C. to get the equipment, and our tour manager, Jeff Roberts, was just a genius in figuring this all out and installing the switches and getting it ready," he said.

One drawback is that this is a fuel source, unlike crude oil, in which there is a short supply. There are only so many restaurants with used vegetable oil.

"Jeff has a number of sources that he has to get oil from in Pennsylvania, so we have about 500 gallons in reserve," Hampton said.

"On the road it's a little trickier, but we see a lot of the places that we play are ready to give us what they can and think that what we have is awesome."

It even came up with a possible marketing tool for them.

"The exhaust at times does smell like french fries so we joked about setting up a french fry stand, possibly calling it Rise Phoenix Fries, or something like that," Hampton joked.

The vehicle is not totally gas free. To keep the biodiesel fuel warm and to keep it from clogging up, the bus must run for 15 minutes on diesel fuel before and after the veggie oil is utilized.

Regardless, Hampton said Rise Phoenix Rise has already realized a definite savings in cash flow.

"The way we figured it, by converting the bus to biodiesel we are going to save about $2,500 in fuel costs this trip. We filled up with diesel before we left Pennsylvania and still have well over half a tank here in Florida," Hampton said. "We are not just going to be squeaking by now with these savings.

"If an emergency pops up, we are ready for it, and with saving about $800 a week on average, that could mean some extra bonus money for the band. Going green can save and make some green"

But for Hampton, it's not just about the money.

"We're very conscious about finding ways to reduce our carbon footprint on the world, and this is a great way to do it," he said. "When I can trade my car, I will be looking for a diesel car so I can do the same there. And our manager may be looking into how to turn this into a business for himself.

"There are even some truck stops that could be selling the fuel in the near future, with the rate right now at $1.79 a gallon. We need to do something to control this crisis, and with using biodiesel fuel we are not burning through money or the ozone layer."