Two research vessels may be plying the shores of Lake Michigan next year using a unique form of biodiesel fuel. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tracy Samilton has more:
Transcript
Two research vessels may be playing the shores of Lake Michigan next year using a unique form
of biodiesel fuel. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tracy Samilton reports:
The Annis Water Resources Institute at Grand Valley State University has two research and
educational outreach vessels. Engineer Robert Udell would like to see the boats running on some form of
biodiesel fuel by next season. The idea he favors the most is gathering up all the used fryer oil
that campus eateries use for making french fries, then processing it to fuel the boats. Udell says
there’s only one side effect he’s aware of.
“You quite often get a french fry exhaust odor. I’ve been close to engines running on diesel
from fryer oil and it’s really not that noticeable.”
Udell says the fuel could also be shipped in from Chicago, but he prefers having a small
processing plant on campus. He says it could make the fuel more cheaply, and provide hands-on
learning opportunities for chemistry and engineering students.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Tracy Samilton.