biodieselpictures.com

[graydonblair]

Watch this space for details on an exciting Biodiesel project by Mother McAuley High School.

[mmcoperationhaiti]

Hello everyone! I'm Ana and I'm writing on behalf of us Eco-Macs at Mother McAuley High School in Chicago to spread the word about what we're doing with our project: Operation Haiti.

This year, our mentor Dr. Roz Iasillo and 10 students at McAuley, along with some students from Thornridge High School, started this humanitarian project for a small town in rural Haiti: Pichon. Our goal is to donate a solar-powered biodiesel processor to a school in Pichon that has no electricity or running water. We as a team have begun designing and constructing this processor, which not only will allow for the lowering of greenhouse gasses by providing a way to make a great fuel, biodiesel; it will also run on solar power, making it doubly eco-friendly.

Faced with many ecological problems, Haiti needs our help. Most of Haiti has been ravaged by deforestation, because wood is Haiti’s main source of fuel, especially in rural areas. Deforestation, in turn, causes soil erosion, making a serious problem larger. Soil in Haiti is left stripped of its trees—unprotected and vulnerable to being washed away. However, Jatropha, a local shrub, may prove to be Haiti’s remedy. This shrub yields many seeds that can be crushed to provide “seed oil”. This oil can then be converted into biodiesel using our solar-powered biodiesel processor. After biodiesel is processed from the Jatropha seeds, glycerin remains as a by-product. In turn, the glycerin can be used as fertilizer to rejuvenate the soil. In the long run, our project has the potential to turn Haiti’s ecological statistics around!

Besides bettering Haiti’s ecology, our project will have a huge impact on the lifestyles of Haitians. Because our processor runs on solar power, excess solar energy can illuminate students attending the local school in Pichon. Literally. This school has no access to electricity, and the excess energy from the solar panels may provide electricity for their school and even offer them the opportunity to learn with computers. The fruits of our efforts may even vitalize Haiti’s economy by creating a new biodiesel market. By simply educating the people in Haiti about harnessing the power of their native plants, and providing the means to start processing biodiesel, we can start a domino effect of progress for Haitians. As students at McAuley, we must say that it is a privilege to be working on a project having so much potential to help both the ecology and the way of life of people in another country.

Various organizations, schools, and businesses, have also agreed to help us. Michigan State University, University of Illinois, Engineers Without Borders, and Education for Prosperity have decided to work in conjunction with us. A partnership with the students at Thornridge HS has also been established to help us with this project and to show us how to make a biodiesel system. We also have plans to work with Queen of Martyrs, a local middle school. The Home Depot in Oak Lawn, FSI Industries, Den Hartog Industries, Jim Murphy, president of Carbon Green, and Meyer Drum have also helped us with donations.

Our project is a fabulous opportunity for us students to gain experience working on an international community service project and to work with colleges and students from other schools. Projects like these build character in students, and we will remember them for the rest of our lives. Our goal is to make a global impact on the environment and help people in need, thus “ Helping the world One drop of Oil and CO molecule at a time.”

You could help us out by voting for us on www.truehero.org !
The projects that receive the most votes will receive funding from truehero.org!

If you would like additional information and pictures, visit our website at www.mmcoperationhaiti.tripod.com
...and also visit our youtube page at
http://www.youtube.com/user/mmcoperationhaiti

to see the biodiesel processor-construction in action or visit our photobucket at

http://s1021.photobucket.com/home/mmcOperationHaiti
to view our hundreds of photos we have uploaded!

Thanks for your interest!

[graydonblair]

Here's a great article on the project that was published in Mechanical Science and Engineering....

http://mechse.illinois.edu/content/news/spotlight.php?id=244

[graydonblair]

The Biodiesel Rap Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50L1KyR6sJc&feature=related
- By students at McAuley EcoMacs and the Thornridge BioDiesel Group

The McAuley EcoMacs meeting the Thornridge Biodiesel Group
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kI6Bod6Bqo&feature=related
- This is when the group learned about Biodiesel from Thornridge.

[graydonblair]

Time to meet the Mother McAuley Biodiesel Team!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8b5EmuWGrA&feature=channel
- This video does a short overview of who the Biodiesel team is at Mother McAuley and shows them in action

[graydonblair]

Time to learn how their Biodiesel Processor works!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62eKHY50jRI&feature=channel
- In this video they cover how their Biodiesel processor works.