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Wissahickon Charter School

SmartFuel's first pilot project is with Wissahickon Charter School in Philadelphia, PA. Through seed funding from the William James Foundation and a grant from the U.S. EPA Region 4's Environmental Education Program, SmartFuel helped the Wissahickon Charter School build three 12-gallon biodiesel processors and create a permitted space to make the fuel.

SmartFuel sourced and funded the equipment and arranged for permits. Under the leadership of Wissahickon science teacher Michael Friedman, the students made the final decisions on processor equipment and split into three teams to build the processors. SmartFuel is working with the Philadelphia Safety Inspectors to create a safe site that meets all relevant codes.

Students have arranged with local restaurants to collect used oil. SmartFuel will help them design a collection process and fund the equipment. Students will clean the oil and perform all the titrations (a chemical reaction that indicates how much catalyst to use with waste oil), and the school will use the biodiesel in buses and vans on school trips.

Mr. Friedman created a biodiesel curriculum that incorporate stories and interactive experiments to help students understand the science behind making biodiesel and also how biodiesel fits into the greater environmental solution to fossil fuels.

In April 2007, the Wissahickon Biodiesel Club travelled to Washington, DC and displayed one of their processors at the National Sustainable Design Expo. The students explained to Expo attendees how biodiesel was made and how they will use the end product. The middle school students were the youngest participants, but their project drew the interest of the judges, other participants and the public.