John working on his converter in his workshop (Photo by Sarah Russell)
It’s hard to be optimistic about
paying $4 a gallon at the pump.
But when you’re a teenager working on new
ways to make cheap fuel, it can be pretty
exciting. Julie Grant met one high school
student who is showing off his biodiesel
converter at the county fair:
Transcript
It’s hard to be optimistic about
paying $4 a gallon at the pump.
But when you’re a teenager working on new
ways to make cheap fuel, it can be pretty
exciting. Julie Grant met one high school
student who is showing off his biodiesel
converter at the county fair:
(sounds of the fair)
The Fairgrounds sit in a quiet countryside of rolling green
hills. Small children yell and wave to family members as
they enter the Fair. There’s a steer auction in the barn. And
an antique tractor pull in the grandstand.
It’s like a scene is right out of a Norman Rockwell painting.
I’m here to talk with John Russell. He’s walking around in
faded wrangler jeans. A red t-shirt with the sleeves cut off.
And a ballcap advertising a tractor company.
“We’re at the Columbiana County Fair in Lisbon, Ohio. In
the junior fair building.”
John is 17 years old, and amidst 4-H project displays, he has
set up his view of the future. His homemade biodiesel
converter.
It’s a rectangular box – nearly as tall as me.
It’s made of stainless steel. There’s a row of toggle switches
along the side. They light up when John plugs it in. He’s
been working on this for more than a year, and says it
makes vegetable oil into a usable fuel.
“I started out with new oil from Save-A-Lot. I went down to
the local grocery store and picked up a bottle of frying oil.
And just from a recipe I found online, with methanol from an
auto parts store, they sell it as heat. It’s gasoline antifreeze.
Just methanol from an auto parts store, Caustic soda from a
hardware store, and oil from a grocery store, I set out to
make this fuel. And it took me couple of times. I finally got it
right when I actually tried a batch of waste vegetable oil from
the valley drive in. So that was my first successful batch.”
Last year, John was only able to fill a Gatorade bottle with
his fuel. Soon, he expects to convert 240 gallons of
vegetable oil into biodiesel in a day.
He hasn’t quite figured out how much the electricity costs to
run the thing, so he doesn’t know how much it’s costing him
to make the fuel.
Back five years ago, he met a guy who claimed to be making
biodiesel for 46 cents per gallon.
Headlines then were already screaming about skyrocketing
fuel prices. 1.60 per gallon. That’s what sparked John’s
interest in making his own converter.
“46 cents a gallon was pretty cool. And I’m into sustainable
agriculture. It’s recycling and its ecofriendly. The
culmination of all those things, that’s what makes it
interesting for me.”
Now that’s he’s almost 18, most of John’s friends are into
cars. And they’re taking an interest in his biodiesel project.
John Russell: “I’m a senior in high school. So most of my
friends’ reactions are ‘when are you going to give me free
fuel?’ But they all think it’s pretty sweet. It does make fuel a
lot cheaper than you could buy it at the pump.”
Julie Grant: “How much are you selling it for?”
John: “Well, I can’t sell it. Or else I’ll get in trouble with the
big man.”
Julie: “Is your dad the big man?”
John: “no. The IRS.”
He’s got to do some research into state and federal laws.
John wants to use the fuel to run his family’s tractors and
help heat homes in his neighborhood.
He’s not sure if biodiesel is the future of fuel, or even in his
long term future. But John is sure he wants a career in
green industry.
“Anything that’s gonna be tied into this fuel situation that
we’re faced with. Something’s gonna change and
something’s gonna change fast. So I’m very excited for
what’s going to happen.”
For now, John’s trying to put the finishing touches on his
converter so it’s ready for the Ohio state fair later this
summer. He’s the new face of agriculture – making eco-friendly practices into traditional American values.
For The Environment Report, I’m Julie Grant.