Biorefining
Tools
Email Page
Print PageContact
A University of Kansas engineering professor is searching for ways to make biodiesel from waste oils, leading to a less expensive alternative source of energy.
Aired November 13, 2006
Transcript
The next time you pull up to the pump you may notice something—a gallon of biodiesel costs more than a gallon of gas or regular diesel– if you can even find it.I'm Brandis Griffith with your research minute – researchers at the University of Kansas are refining ways to make biodiesel more widely-used.
As it stands, making the environmentally-friendly biodiesel means using refined oil—like the stuff you buy in the grocery store. That's why it's so expensive.
But associate professor Susan Williams is looking into using waste oils—like used fryer grease—and turning it into biodiesel.
"If we could use those materials with a lot of free fatty acids, those are really cheap, they would drive the cost of biodiesel down to where it would be acceptable for consumers to buy it and put in their vehicle."
Williams says the process of turning those waste oils into biodiesel uses the toxic and corrosive sulfuric acid – so she's searching for an environmentally benign alternative.
For more information log on to researchminute.ku.edu.
From the University of Kansas, I'm Brandis Griffith.
Tell Me More
KU research drives at improving biodiesel production
LAWRENCE — What if used grease from the University of Kansas cafeterias and food courts could be put to better use rather than just tossed out? It could be trucked over to a pilot plant on west campus, where students would turn it into biodiesel. Then university buses could burn it as fuel.
