Biodiesel is an environmentally friendly and renewable resource that can power such equipment as generators and cars. Finding a renewable alternative to traditional petroleum based fuels is an important step in reducing the human impact on climate change. Biodiesel is a biodegradable fuel that has a smaller carbon footprint than petroleum based fuels. Thus far, used vegetable oil has been successfully converted to biodiesel via methanol and catalytic potassium hydroxide on a 12 liter scale. Currently, efforts are being focused on the development of a method that creates biodiesel both efficiently and cost effectively on a 100 liter scale. The long-term goal of this project is to be able to produce biodiesel on a large enough scale to sustain the campus shuttles at York College, lessening their impact on the environment.

Creation of biodiesel from used vegetable oil using an alkaline catalyst

247th National Meeting (2014)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.