Renewable energy news from campuses on the campaign trail

Since I can't be all doom all the time, here are a couple of sustainability good news stories from Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (ACA and shutdown on campus).  First, Virginia Tech presents Biomass Bounty.

When processed correctly, wood chips, corn stocks, and manure can be used as fuel to create electricity. The Department of Sustainable Biomaterials is researching how best to convert waste from forestry and agriculture into power.

Next, a follow-up University of Cincinnati explores energy from waste.

UC's "Team Effuelent" Trumps Competition with Trap Grease, Wins $40,000 Prize
UC's Team Effuelent won the $40,000 top prize of the Odebrecht Award for Sustainability Development Competition with the innovative concept of “Using Trap Grease As the Raw Material for Biodiesel Feedstock Production.”
By: Ashley Duvelius
Date: 10/1/2013 12:00:00 AM

The University of Cincinnati student entrepreneurship team that’s fueling worldwide media attention is at it again. Team Effuelent recently took the $40,000 top prize of the Odebrecht Award for Sustainability Development Competition with their innovative concept of “Using Trap Grease As the Raw Material for Biodiesel Feedstock Production.”

Team Effuelent is led by UC students Ron Gillespie, Carl H. Lindner College of Business industrial management student; Ethan Jacobs, College of Engineering and Applied Science ACCEND student earning his bachelor's degree in civil engineering and also his MBA; and Qingshi Tu, UC doctoral environmental engineering student. The top three winning teams of the 2013 Odebrecht Award for Sustainable Development were unveiled Sept. 9, 2013, at the award ceremony in Miami, Fla.

The team’s innovative Waste Grease Extraction process extracts substances such as fats, oils, and greases from the municipal wastewater stream and converts them into a low-cost biodiesel feedstock using processes compatible to the current biodiesel industry.

Not only does the WGE process generate a marketable product of value, it also results in lowered landfill costs for wastewater treatment plants and positively contributes to the environmental, economic, and energy sustainability of the United States.

Stories like this make the Crazy Eddie in me hopeful.