Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
UR Biodiesel: taking the grease from your lunch, and turning it into something that's good for the environment.
We're taking waste vegetable oil from campus dining centers,
converting it to biodiesel, and using it to fuel this campus bus.
Biodiesel is a much cleaner fuel than petrodiesel.
It reduces toxic chemicals such as nitrous oxide and sulfur dioxide.
In order to build the sustainability lab,
we reused machines and other parts from different places on campus.
This is how we make biodiesel: First we take the grease
normally thrown out by dining facilities and put it in these storage containers.
We pump the grease into a processor, which is actually a retrofitted water heater.
and then heat it up and add chemicals methanol and lye to get the reaction going.
We pump the product into the settling tank,
where we let the byproducts settle out,
and then we pump the biodiesel into the wash tank,
where we wash the biodiesel with water to get rid of any impurities.
We pump the product into the last tank, where we heat it to get rid of any excess water.
And that is how you make biodiesel.
It takes about 3 days to produce a 50-gallon batch of biodiesel.
Initially we'll be running the bus on a B-20 blend,
which is 20% biodiesel and 80% petrodiesel.
There's a real green bug across campus. Everyone loves sustainability: students, administrators, faculty, staff...
UR Biodiesel really brings everyone together towards the same goal.
UR Biodiesel's legacy is going to be a great example of a student-run green initiative on campus.