University of Connecticut

The Consortium is a team of students and professors in the fields of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Plant Science, Economics, and Business. The mission is to advance the UConn biodiesel research initiative for the greater good of the environment, and to help gain national energy independence.

In the spring of 2005, the new lab began production and they successfully ran a bus and a tractor off blends of biodiesel made here on campus. They now have the funding and means to produce enough biodiesel to replace 5% of the petrodiesel fuel consumption of university vehicles, using waste vegetable oil from dining services as our feedstock.

The future goal is to be able to reuse all waste oil from dining services as well as local restaurants and waste oil suppliers. Currently, the University produces 3,000-4,000 gallons of waste (vegetable oil) a year. This waste could potentially be mixed with diesel to create bio-diesel which, if used to run half of the University’s bus fleet would reduce emissions by 2.4%. If all buses ran on B-20 in the future, emissions could be reduced by 15%. Consequently, the University is currently exploring options to expand upon its biodiesel research and development efforts.

UC Biofuels Consortium