Green bus embarks on maiden voyage

The biodiesel bus, unveiled after months ofcollaboration between students, UR Facilitiesand UR Dining, was celebrated in a ceremony yesterday in the Goergen Hall Atrium. The project was spearheaded by four students — alumnus Chris Babcock, seniors Dave Borrelli and Dan Fink and junior Eric Weissmann. With its completion, the bus will run on the Park Lot South Silver route and the 19th Ward Gold route. Next semester, the bus may start running on the Green line.

The production of the biodiesel — which takes place on the River Campus behind the UR Security building — involves collecting vegetable oil waste from Danforth Dining Center, Douglass Dining Hall and the Pit. With the addition of methanol and lye, the oil is converted into biodiesel. The processed oil is then washed with water to remove impurities and then dried to remove any excess water that may have mixed with the oil. “The result is a more gentle fuel for the diesel to combust,” Fink said.

The four came up with the idea for the biodiesel bus as a business plan for the Charles and Janet Forbes Entrepreneurial Competition in the spring of 2007. “We wanted to expose the campus community to common alternative energy initiatives,” Fink said. The project was not a single group effort, but rather the result of a collaboration of many different organizations on campus — these organizations include Dining and Facilities.

Trade Supervisor and Area Manager Eris Oleksyn aided the four students in the project, and noted that it allowed for an unusual interaction between Facilities and students. “The students didn’t have a lot of access to tools, so my guys and I would go in the mornings and at night to do the work that required suppliesthat they didn’t have access to,” he said.

UR dining played a significant role. Director of Dining and Auxiliary Services Schauf said that he was approached while the students were planning their project during the 2006-2007school year. At the time, Schauf was in the process of negotiating a contract with an outside company that would come and pick up the vegetable oil and turn it into biodiesel, but upon hearing about the student project, Schauf decided to work with the undergraduates instead. “Dining strives to be student led,” he said. “We try to develop our program with student involvement, so to say no to trying to work with this group of students would run counter to what we believe.”

While all sides expressed enthusiasm in theprogram, Weissmann added it was difficult to get the project going. “None of the groups were opposed, but each of their departments had its own hoops, so working with multiple departments just meant more politics for us,” he said.

The group also faced challenges in setting up the biodiesel facility, struggling in converting it from an empty storage space. The floor is covered in a shiny coat that holds in the oil. There is a curb that goes around the edge of the floor and no drain so the space itself functions as a secondary storage in case of an oil spill. Vents were installed and run along the sidewalls, carrying the fumes out of the lab.

Students’ dedication to sustainability was tested as project participants scrounged the River Campus for materials. The bigger pieces were either donated or bought used for a cheap cost. Many of the items were in the garbage before being picked up by the project where they gained a new use.

Participants said their goal is to make the entire process as sustainable as possible.

Weissmann, Fink and Borelli all hope to continue the expansion of biodiesel production in the future.

“We hope to expand the project to picking up the waste oil from local business and using it to expand the biodiesel production,” Weissmann said. Project participants expressed dreams of expanding their sustainable projects to solar panels or wind turbines to power the biodiesel facility.

The biodiesel bus project — completed after nearly two year of work — was unveiled during Earth Week on Wednesday. An Earth Day celebration, sponsored by Grassroots, took place in Dandelion Square on Saturday, April 18. The festivities followed an organized clean up of litter in Genessee Valley Park that morning.

Local Foods Week kicked off in Danforth Dining Center on Tuesday and will continue throughout this week.
 

Carlin is a member of

the class of 2011.