Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Powering Mind, Powering Futures (formerly Biodiesel Education: Green Energy for the Next-Generation)
EPA Grant Number: SU834014Title: Powering Mind, Powering Futures (formerly Biodiesel Education: Green Energy for the Next-Generation)
Investigators: Tuchman, Nancy C. , Lishawa, Shane C. , Schubel, Adam , Clark, Kristina , Burkhalter, Lauryn , McCoy, Margaret , Hertel, Samantha , Hogan, Tierney , Waickman, Zach
Institution: Loyola University of Chicago
EPA Project Officer: Page, Angela
Phase: II
Project Period: August 15, 2008 through August 14, 2010
Project Amount: $75,000
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet - Phase 2 (2008) Recipients Lists
Research Category: Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development , P3 Challenge Area - Air Quality , P3 Awards , Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Objective:
Background and problem definition
Climate change represents a serious threat to public health, environmental well-being, economic prosperity, and national security in the United States and around the world. Unfortunately, the causes and consequences of climate change are often underestimated and misunderstood, despite the increasing level of urgency voiced by scientists, environmental organizations, and growing media coverage of green initiatives. Recent studies indicate that most Americans cannot properly identify the factors that contribute to climate change and are unaware of the actions they can personally take to reduce their contribution to global carbon dioxide emissions. Lack of awareness impedes the behavioral and public policy changes necessary to mitigate the effects of global climate change. Citizens and governments must perform immediate and decisive actions to avoid the most damaging effects of global climate change. We must increase public awareness of climate change, stimulate further research, develop and
promote green technologies, and prepare current students to become future environmental leaders.
Our Phase I efforts successfully increased awareness of climate change and promoted environmental stewardship through the development of a biodiesel production facility and an interdisciplinary education and outreach program based at Loyola University Chicago. We emphasized mitigating carbon dioxide emissions through biodiesel production from waste vegetable oil (WVO). Our Phase I efforts with undergraduate college students indicated that biodiesel production functions as a powerful tool for teaching critical thinking and environmental problem-solving skills, fostering awareness of climate change, and promoting civic engagement.
We believe that educating students to critically examine options for meeting energy demands is a crucial element of achieving sustainability. In response to this conviction and to build on the success of Phase I, we developed our Phase II initiative, Powering Minds, Powering Futures (PMPF) (formerly Biodiesel Education: Green Energy Education for the Next-generation (BE: GREEN)), a comprehensive plan that utilizes on-site biodiesel production to augment existing high school science and environmental curricula.
Relationship to people, prosperity, and the planet
People benefit in numerous ways from PMPF. First, airborne particulate matter and other emissions from traditional petro-diesel fuel have adverse affects on human health, and communities benefit from producing and using a cleaner burning alternative fuel. Second, schools benefit from the acquisition of an exciting, interdisciplinary, project-based educational tool, which has the capacity to unify students, teachers, departments, and the community. Schools also receive the obvious benefits of
converting waste into fuel, which can be used to operate on-campus machinery and vehicles. Third, teachers receive direct training, valuable equipment and laboratory materials, lessons and laboratory activities, and ongoing support and consultation from Loyola faculty, staff, and student interns. Fourth, high school students benefit from engaging, hands-on lessons with real-world impact, the development of critical thinking and decision making skills, increased awareness of climate change, and skills for the
emerging green-collar economy. Fifth, Loyola undergraduates who participate in our Green Professionals Internship Program (GPIP) benefit from valuable professional and educational experience with high school teachers and students.
PMPF contributes to prosperity primarily by offering hands-on, minds-on education to students on alternative energy solutions. This educational opportunity is offered to public school students along a broad cultural and socio-economic spectrum. On the one hand, this education provides a critical knowledge and skill set for the emerging green-collar economy. On the other hand, motivated and mobilized students comprise one of the major forces that will secure the emergence of the green-collar
economy.
PMPF provides both direct and indirect benefits to the planet. Our partner schools now own the mobile processors we designed and built for them, and these schools will ultimately produce relatively large volumes of biodiesel fuel. Each gallon of biodiesel replaces traditional petro-diesel fuel. The production and subsequent use of this fuel will directly and substantially reduce emissions of CO2 and particulate matter. In addition, each school minimizes their own waste stream by channeling cafeteria WVO into fuel production. Indirectly, we provide schools with the educational and public awareness tools to inspire enduring social change. By educating today’s students we will be preparing them to become future environmental leaders.
Relevance and significance to developing or developed world
Decreasing global greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating the impacts of global climate change, will of course require unparalleled, coordinated efforts on a global scale within both developed and developing nations. Addressing this challenge in one area addresses this challenge globally. To date, the PMPF program primarily serves the developed world, specifically the Chicago region. Our project is relevant to the developed world because it provides a means to serve energy needs while reducing negative impacts to the environment and reducing waste generation. It also provides a younger generation with the knowledge, skills, experience, and preparedness to engage the challenges they will likely continue to face in the ensuing years.
While we have not extended the reach of our program to the developing world, we continue to see great potential for positive impacts. The technologies that we are improving upon and promoting are fundamentally "low tech," making them feasible for adoption in poor regions.
Implementation of the P3 Award Project as an educational tool
The focus of our project is the design and implementation of an educational tool for high school teachers and students in the Chicago region. We firmly believe that education provides the most powerful tool for creating solutions to the environmental challenges confronting people, prosperity, and the planet. It is likely the increasing knowledge, awareness, conscientiousness, and skill of human beings that will provide the most critical role in solving the environmental challenges of the 21st Century.
Through PMPF, we intend to inspire and prepare tomorrow’s environmental leaders to improve the status of people, prosperity, and the planet.
Purpose, objectives, scope
Our primary purpose in PMPF is to address the current global environmental crisis through the training and education of students who will be increasingly responsible for addressing this crisis. Our secondary purpose in PMPF is to supplement environmental education in regional Chicago high schools with valuable, fun, hands-on, and interdisciplinary teaching tools. To achieve these purposes, we established the following objectives:
1. Research and Develop Mobile Green Energy Lab (MGEL)
- Design and construct four Mobile Green Energy Labs (MGELs)
- Evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the reactors by testing the fuel quality against ASTM standards for biodiesel
- Compare energy, labor, and materials input/output ratios of MGELs to those of our current full-scale reactor
2. Establish partnerships with regional high schools
- Set up MGELs and provide training at four local high schools during the Fall of 2010
- Produce biodiesel using WVO from the school’s cafeteria as the project proceeds
- Measure our success by the number of high schools at which we produce fuel and the quantity and quality of fuel that is produced and used on-site. Keep detailed records of fuel production at each high school.
3. Implement the Green Professionals Internship Program (GPIP)
- Hire undergraduate student interns from Loyola University Chicago to assist teachers with establishment of PMPF in schools including developing and modeling lessons and activities, working directly with students, assisting with biodiesel production, and troubleshooting equipment.
- Evaluate goal with records of both the time spent interacting with students and teachers and the degree to which these interns facilitate classroom learning. Maintain records of intern contact-time spent at each school, devise and implement comprehensive evaluations of student learning, and file lesson plans, evaluations, and post-session reflections for each classroom interaction.
4. Educate and transform thousands of high school students through biodiesel education
- Change student behavior through developing understanding of climate change, renewable fuels, and other potential remedies.
- Assess our efforts to meet this goal through pre-and post-experience surveys and interviews.
5. Inform students of diverse career opportunities in renewable energy and green industry
- Lead students to explore these fields as possible career paths.
- Evaluate the initial achievement of this goal through surveys that provide information regarding the number of students who report interest in green careers, the number exploring careers in environment related fields, and the number planning to attend technical or vocational schools that will prepare them for such work.
6. Empower teachers to use biodiesel as a science and environmental education tool
- Host curriculum development workshops.
- Evaluate based on the number of teachers reached and their perception of the usefulness of the curricular materials. This perception can be judged through interviews and surveys.
7. Publish a curriculum for using biodiesel as an educational tool
- STEP interns and faculty will compose a comprehensive curriculum and publish it.
8. Offer schools the opportunity to build their own lab at the completion of the semester • Provide schools the experience and resources they need to make an informed decision about whether to build a permanent biodiesel lab and help each school evaluate whether biodiesel production is suitable for them.
- Provide materials and assistance for design and construction of permanent biodiesel processor
The scope of PMPF includes partnering with four high schools in the Chicago region to firmly establish the project in these schools over the two years of the project period. During this period, we will engage in an iterative process with partner schools to test and improve the integrity of PMPF. It is our intention that the project grow within and between schools beyond the project period with minimal oversight by Loyola University Chicago.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
Data, outputs, outcomes, findings
During the 2008-2010 project period, we progressed significantly toward meeting our objectives (Table 1). We designed, built and tested the prototype MGEL (Fig 1) and subsequently built three additional MGELs that were distributed to partner schools. We worked closely with four regional high schools in the Chicago region to incorporate the MGEL and accompanying curricula into the existing high school schedule/curricula. We implemented the GPIP, and employed a total of five student-interns during the 2008-2010 school years. We directly communicated with hundreds of high school students on the fossil fuel-related causes of global climate change and on the benefits of biodiesel from WVO. We trained numerous teachers through multiple professional development workshops. We developed multiple classroom labs and lessons related to biodiesel production. Additionally, we hosted hundreds of high school students in our Biodiesel Lab from more than 20 schools for lab tours and biodiesel demonstrations.
Additionally, we committed to expanding our educational efforts to community members. During the 2008-2010 project period, we made direct contact with well over 3,000 community members through PMPFF presentations and events.
A continuing challenge was the end use of the biodiesel product has provided another challenge for teachers. Many schools have minimal equipment that runs on diesel fuel, and even less equipment with which they’re comfortable using student-made biodiesel fuel. Additionally, legal factors complicate the use of biodiesel fuel by schools. Loyola faced this same challenge in using the 2,500 gallons of biodiesel produced on campus. This led Loyola to become the first school in the US to be licensed at both the state and federal level to produce and sell biodiesel. In October 2010 we clarified with EPA regulators that high schools are exempt from most fuel regulations as their projects are considered educational research. This clarification will hopefully open more opportunities for high schools to use their fuel. Some of our partner schools are exploring the use of biodiesel in school-owned go-carts. In response to challenges with end-use, we have modified our objectives to include the development of a Fig 1. Mobile Green Energy Lab (MGEL) "Mobile Biodiesel Show" (MBS) which will provide an avenue for product end-use and a tool for project promotion. The MBS will involve a deep fryer, a diesel generator, and an MGEL. Students and faculty can use the fryer, which will be powered by the diesel generator, to produce French fries for events. The oil from the fryer will then be transformed into biodiesel fuel in the MGEL, and the biodiesel will fuel the generator. This “closed-loop” energy system was demonstrated at the National Sustainable Design Expo on the National Mall in April 2010.
Conclusions:
Discussion, conclusions, recommendations
During the 2008-2010 project period, we achieved numerous major successes and impacts toward our objectives. First, we designed and constructed a small-scale biodiesel processor suitable for use in high schools and have been able to redesign various parts to cut the construction costs in half for the future. Interested teachers and administrators have been enthusiastic about the compact design, mobility, practicality, and ease-of-use of the MGELs. Teachers and schools have expressed enthusiasm regarding the safety and mobility of our design, particularly the built-in spill containment.
Second, we directly trained over 200 regional teachers to use biodiesel production in their classrooms. Teachers were widely impressed by the depth and quality of our professional development workshops, and left feeling more prepared to teach students about biodiesel and renewable energy alternatives. Unfortunately, it is difficult to measure the indirect impact we have on students and the public through teacher training, but we infer that teacher training generates our widest impact in promoting public awareness of climate change and alternative fuels.
Third, through GPIP, we have provided a unique educational and professional opportunity to undergraduate interns and a rewarding opportunity to partner schools. GPIP interns worked directly with teachers and students as well as in the laboratory to integrate biodiesel production into high school classrooms. This relationship also provides a valuable and inspirational opportunity to high school students through direct contact with college students.
Finally, we have widely and actively promoted public awareness of causes of and solutions to global climate change. As mentioned in our initial proposal, we anticipate a modest direct environmental impact through biodiesel production in partner schools. The volume of production and use in schools will likely not occur at a level that significantly lessens green house gas emissions. Exposing students and the public to the ease and accessibility of alternative fuel strategies, however, has a powerful and transformative effect on public consciousness.
Loyola University Chicago has taken the initial steps to disseminating the PMPF project across the country. We have started consulting a group from the State of Kentucky who are attempting to replicate our high school outreach efforts across their state, especially in agricultural-focused areas of the state. Our labs and lessons along with equipment designs may be implemented in Kentucky classrooms starting in 2011.
References:
1. Schwartz, P. & Randall, D. (Prepared by Global Business Network, for the Department of Defense., 2003).
2. Stern, N. et al. Stern Review: The Economics of Climate Change (HM Treasury, London, 2006).
3. Carpenter, C. Businesses, green groups and the media: the role of non-governmental organizations in the climate change debate. International Affairs 77, 313-328 (2001).
4. Curry, T., Reiner, D. M., Ansolabehere, S. & Herzog, H. J. 10 (MIT Laboratory for Energy and the Environment, Cambridge, MA, 2005).
5. Leiserowitz, A. A. American risk perceptions: Is climate change dangerous? Risk Analysis 25, 1433-1442 (2005).
6. Bord, R. J., Fisher, A. & O'Connor, R. E. Public perceptions of global warming: United States and international perspectives. Climate Research 11, 75-84 (1998).
7. Jones, V. The Green Collar Economy: How one solution can fix our two biggest problems. (Harper Collins, New York, NY, 2008).
8. McCormick, R., Williams, A., Ireland, J., Brimhall, M. & Hayes, R. (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, 2005).
9. Krahl, J., Bunger, J., Schroder, O., Munack, A. & Knothe, G. Exhaust emissions and health effects of particulate matter from agricultural tractors operating on rapeseed oil methyl ester. Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society 79, 717-724 (2002).
10. Leiserowitz, A. A. American risk perceptions: Is climate change dangerous? Risk Analysis 25, 1433-1442 (2005).
11. Bord, R. J., Fisher, A. & O'Connor, R. E. Public perceptions of global warming: United States and international perspectives. Climate Research 11, 75-84 (1998).
Journal Articles on this Report : 1 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
Other project views: | All 8 publications | 3 publications in selected types | All 1 journal articles |
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Type | Citation | ||
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Lishawa S, Schubel A, Varty A, Tuchman N. Sustainability education as a catalyst for university and community partnerships. Metropolitan Universities Journal 2010;21(1):58-72. |
SU834014 (Final) |
Exit |
Supplemental Keywords:
biodiesel, education, environmental education, alternative fuels, biofuels, high school, science educationRelevant Websites:
Institute of Environmental Sustainability | Loyola University Chicago Exit
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractP3 Phase I:
Innovative Biodiesel Production: A Solution to the Scientific, Technical, and Educational Challenges of Sustainability | Final ReportThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.