ado1956
Registered: December 2010
City/Town/Province: East Falmouth
Posts: 1
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My name is Andrew and I am from Cape Cod, MA. I am currently a senior in high school and interested in pursuing engineering. However, along these lines, I am also interested in creating things that not only help people, but are more efficient and environmentally friendly. My personal achievement concerning this goal was through the research of renewable energy sources. I conducted my research and projects in Mashpee, MA in, interestingly enough, a parking lot. However, one could say that this project now goes with me almost everywhere I go.
A local company that I had previously worked with on computer graphics, started to dabble in Renewable Energy by converting one of their work trucks to run on used vegetable shortening. Since I was interested in this field I visited them again to inquire about their achievements. However, due to the success of this project, they converted their other vehicles as well. This increased their vegetable oil consumption and, therefore, a larger filtration system was needed. I offered to help in a new design for a larger scale filtration system at their local warehouse. This system was then approved and put into use for their company. Inspired by this, I secured a 1983 diesel Mercedes, which happened to be a perfect candidate for conversion into a Grease Car. With the required parental permission, I set off to accomplish my new found goal. I spent time researching the parts and internal filtration needed to convert a diesel car to run on used vegetable shortening. After the essential research, I started to find the necessary parts for installation: solenoids to change the flow within the different environments, the control gauges, the second fuel tank, internal filter components, and the coolant alterations. When the day was over and the tests were completed, I could proudly attach the sticker that read, “Powered by Vegetable Oil”. With the successful conversion of my car, the company let me use their filtration system and each week I help filter new oil for their trucks and my car. My research and conversion became my science fair project so that I could teach the community about using vegetable oil in their cars. I received the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative Award for my project. Since then, during each summer, it is my personal challenge to see how far the car can go without refueling its diesel tank. The record for “The Terminator”, as I call the Mercedes, is about 8,000 miles, which is 8,000 miles with a net effect of zero carbon dioxide emissions.
While one car alone is not enough to curb the emissions from fossil fuel, nor is there enough vegetable oil to convert all the diesel cars in the world, it is important to increase people’s awareness about them. A funny, and helpful, way to do this is by driving my Mercedes around and watching the faces of people as they smell the “French Fry” scented fumes coming out of the car. Often people come up to me and ask about the car also, sometimes cause they just like the smell, but either way it gets there attention and gives me the opportunity to explain about renewable energy sources and how they can benefit them, and the environment. One of my favorite instances of this is when a man came here, to the Cape, all the way from Cortland, New York to see the filtration system I helped designed in. He wanted to hopefully apply the filtration method for use with his tractors. He had heard about the accomplishments and success made through the vegetable oil systems all the way up in New York, which was pretty exciting for me and the company which uses the system.
Negative emissions from fossil fuels are not just present in my community, but throughout the world. I hope that people all over look at, or smell, my car wherever I drive it, whether that be in my hometown or in other states. The Apprentice Ecologist Project enables me to inform others about my project and learn about the strives forward others have made also. In the future I look hope to apply the knowledge I learn through engineering to help our environment and the people in it.
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