Students from the East Midlands have been fueling the future of sustainable technologies through a new scheme, funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering through the Ingenious Grant Scheme.
Crown Hills Community College in Leicester and Rawlins Community College in Loughborough, along with Cheltenham College, took part in the ‘Enterprising Engineering for a Greener Future’ project, turning used cooking oil from their school kitchens into more than 600 litres of bio-diesel, which was then either sold to or used in school equipment and transportation vehicles.
The three schools will be demonstrating the pilot project on Friday 19 March at the Nottingham Science Festival at Wollaton Hall, which takes place during the East Midlands Innovation Festival (iFestival).
The Nottingham Science Festival aims to inspire and educate budding scientists and is organised the Nottinghamshire branch of the British Science Association, supported by Nottingham City Council.
The students received guidance and support from CREST Engineers at Loughborough University, the National Non Food Crops Centre and Green Fuels Ltd, enabling them to gain valuable entrepreneurial business and team building skills, whilst also improving the carbon efficiency of their schools.
Tom Carter, Scientist in Residence at Crown Hills Community College, Leicester said: “The fuel pod used for the project created great excitement among the students at the college. Its very presence in the lab has generated interest in the topic of sustainability, engineering and science. Students have already converted the waste cooking oil from local schools into biodiesel. After a successful trial with the school minibus, the enterprising students are now identifying a range of the most economical uses for the fuel.”
Mike Ridler from By Design Group Ltd, who coordinated the project, said: “This has been a great project to be involved in. The students have had tremendous enthusiasm and passion for the scheme and many of them have devoted a lot of their spare time into the initiative. The engineers involved have also been a pleasure to work with and I am delighted that some of those involved have had such positive experiences that they have decided to undertake other public engagement activities connected to science and engineering.”
The students will present their experiences in the Willoughby Room from 12pm to 1.15pm and talk to delegates about how they have produced fuel from waste. Engineers from the University of Loughborough will also speak about their involvement with the project and a question and answer session will follow the presentation.
For more information about the project please contact Mike Ridler by emailing mikeridler@bydesign-group.co.uk
Further information on the event and the participating support services is also available at http://www.eminnovation.org.uk/ifestival.
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Issued on behalf of the iFestival by Lava. For further information contact Matt, Louise or Steph at Lava on 01522 842 800 / matt@lavapr.co.uk / louise@lavapr.co.uk / steph@lavapr.co.uk
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