News Releases
News from Lane Community College, Eugene, Oregon
Public information officer: Joan Aschim, (541) 463-5591, aschimj@lanecc.edu
Contacts: Jennifer Hayward, Sustainability Coordinator, (541) 463-5594 or (541) 543-7526 (cell);
Jon Colligan, Student, (541) 543-6986
Lane student biodiesel plant turns waste cooking oil into fuel
EUGENE - Lane Community College students have built a small-scale biodiesel plant and produced their first batch of biodiesel fuel. The fuel was burned in the campus boiler this September.
The biodiesel project is the outgrowth of student work to synthesize biodiesel from waste cooking oil as an organic chemistry class project. Students Jon Colligan, Dustin Neiman and Jana Thrift planned and assembled the biodiesel plant during the 2005-2006 academic year. The plant is built from used 55-gallon drums, an abandoned dental tank, and other recycled equipment as a model of sustainability.
The biodiesel plant is currently producing ethyl biodiesel, which is less hazardous to produce than the more common methyl biodiesel. The total cost of production is approximately $1.65 per gallon and is projected to save a combined $2,800 a year in waste disposal and fuel costs. The pilot plant is capable of producing 40 gallons of biodiesel per week and will process all of the college's waste cooking oil.
This project has been supported by the college's Sustainability Program and is a joint project of the Sustainability Program and Lane's Green Chemistry Club. Lane's Sustainability Program received the 2006 Campus Sustainability Leadership Award for a two-year college from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.
The Sustainability Program will continue its support for the biodiesel program but additional funding is needed. Upgrades to the pilot plant will help ensure future reliable operations. Donations to enable Lane to undertake these activities can be made out to the Lane Foundation Sustainability Fund and directed to Jennifer Hayward, Sustainability Coordinator.
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