OBERLIN COLLEGE SETS UP ALTERNATIVE FUEL STATION FOR VEHICLES TO RUN ON VEGETABLE OIL.

OBERLIN (Ohio); OHIO

MERRETT, Sam; JANDA, Kathryn

The article reports on the Oberlin Design Initiative and the Youth Energy Project led by Oberlin College senior Sam Merrett and supervised by Kathryn Janda, an environmental studies professor. The college students have been making and using biodiesel fuel from waste oil collected at restaurant grease fryers since January 2003. Once a week, Merrett tired up his truck, modified to run on pure vegetable oil, and beaded out to collect used cooking oil in 5-gallon buckets from local restaurants. The waste oil has powered cars, trucks, a Bobcat loader and Wood-Mizer sawmill. The group won honorable mention in the EPA 2005 design competition last spring, and Merrett won a $36,000 fellowship that enabled him to stay in Oberlin and create a biofuel resource center. Merrett and his business partner, Ray Holan of Biodiesel Cleveland, have transformed an old Marathon gas station into an alternative fuel station. Since November, a small pit crew has modified more than 20 cars and trucks to run on biodiesel oil. At the pump, customers can select their own blend of fuel, supplied by three underground ranks of 100 percent recycled vegetable oil, regular diesel fuel, and an ethanol blend for gasoline engines. The station is called Full Circle Fuel Center.