_{by Vivian F. Cooper}

Leftover vegetable oil from Vanderbilt Dining Services will be turned into biodiesel fuel if a student team wins a national competition for a $25,000 grant to fund campus-based environmental projects.

The Vanderbilt student team is one of 10 finalists in the national MTV-U Ecomagination Challenge, rising to the top from among more than 100 applicants.

The Vanderbilt team’s plan is to collect used vegetable oil from campus kitchens, filter it, and combine it with lye and methanol to produce biodiesel fuel. According to student spokesman Derek Riley, the fuel can not only be substituted for diesel fuel, but is actually superior in that it burns cleanly, cleanses the fuel system and smells clean.

Energy to power the biodiesel fuel production will be obtained from solar panels, backed up by a small biodiesel fuel generator when it’s too cloudy. Rainwater will be collected in a large cistern for use in the fuel production. Methanol left over from chemistry experiments will be collected from campus laboratories.

The team, advised by engineering professor James H. Clarke, includes students from the Wilderness Skills student group and the student environmental organization Students Promoting Environmental Awareness and Recycling.

If won, the grant will pay for the necessary equipment to get the project started, Riley said. The team hopes to eventually produce 1,000 gallons of biodiesel fuel per month, potentially eliminating 20,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions each month.

To vote in the contest, visit www.ecocollegechallenge.com. Voting ends March 2; winners will be announced March 20.

_{Posted 02/05/07}