Members of the Clean Energy Club hope to demonstrate the potential of biodiesel and its future at the University of Idaho with the grand opening of new and improved processing facilities, open to students and members of the community.
The grand opening will take place 3 p.m. April 19 in the J.W. Martin Laboratory, Bay 70.
Melissa Marsing, president of the Clean Energy Club, said the club is planning to demonstrate how a batch of biodiesel is made in their new processor, as well as offer tours of lab facilities and share information on the potential biodiesel holds for UI.
Biodiesel is a sustainable, clean-burning alternative to standard petroleum-based diesel, according to Marsing. The club collects used cooking oil from the Idaho Commons food court and converts it to biodiesel through a chemical reaction with an alcohol and a catalyst.
Mary Everett | Courtesy
According to Marsing, biodiesel is a “drop-in” fuel, meaning no conversion is required to run a vehicle on biodiesel instead of standard diesel, and it has the added benefit of cleaning engines as it runs.
“It’s really cool that through this program, we can take something that would have otherwise just gone to a landfill and turn it into something so useful,” Marsing said.
Biodiesel, a carbon-neutral fuel, does not produce exhaust like standard diesel does, and what it does emit is part of the natural carbon cycle, said Mary Everett, a Clean Energy Club member and social media manger for the UI Biodiesel Education Program.
“Biodiesel is so much cleaner,” Everett said. “Ours is actually extra renewable because we get vegetable oil from here on campus and turn it back into fuel, and it reduces emissions by 70% compared to diesel.”
One of the major improvements to the biodiesel facility is a reactor, donated to the program by Bob Hutchins of Dayton, Washington, which will allow for more efficiency in the reaction process. Everett said the new reactor makes it easier to capture and reuse methanol, — an alcohol used in the reaction process — reducing production costs greatly.
Other upgrades donated by Hutchins include an ion exchange filter for better quality control in the finished product. A grant from the Sustainability Center provided an improved fueling system for biodiesel-powered university vehicles.
Melissa Marsing | Courtesy
Everett said because installing all the new upgrades has been such a long and exhaustive process, there is a small chance the processor itself will not be fully functional at the event. Regardless, she said, the club is working toward finishing the project by the opening date and will provide tours and demonstrations of other parts of the facility.
The club already operates three vehicles on campus with biodiesel they produce, including the “Bio Bug,” a Volkswagen Beetle which runs on 100% biodiesel, and two pickups that run on a blend of 20% biodiesel and 80% standard diesel, according to Marsing. The program also supplies the campus steam plant with 20% blends for some of their equipment.
Marsing said the club’s goal is to implement a 20% biodiesel blend in all university-owned diesel vehicles. She said she hopes the success of the new processor will convince university administrators to seriously consider biodiesel as a huge step toward UI’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2030.
Riley Haun can be reached at [email protected]