Most of us have vivid memories of our school dinners – and even though some of those recollections might turn our stomachs, few of us can recall eating a meal that was, well… green.
However, that’s the case for students at Sinclair Community College. Not that the dinner ladies are bad cooks – just that the oil used to cook their French fries and onion rings is now put to use as an alternative fuel.
Students have started to make biodiesel by converting the used cooking oil from the dining hall helping them to learn about engineering and chemistry while aiding the environment.
The college in Dayton, Ohio, is not alone in creating alternative fuels, however – it seems students are catching the green bug across America.
According to the Associated Press, the State University of New York melted down a 900lb butter sculpture from its state fair last summer to help power vehicles; while Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, produces 50-150 gallons of biodiesel a week to power the campus farm equipment, lawnmowers and the garbage truck.
The biodiesel is made by chemically converting the used cooking oil through a process known as transesterification, which removes glycerine and adds methanol to produce a thinner product capable of powering a diesel engine.
Back at Sinclair College, students turn out two batches of biodiesel a week – since December they have produced around 100 gallons. It is estimated that they have already saved the school around $150 in fuel costs.
