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Project Summary and Goals
Project
Director:
Charles L. Peterson, Professor and
Interim Head,
Department of Biological and
Agricultural Engineering,
University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho
The goal
of the University of Idaho (UI) and Iowa State University (ISU)
is to provide complete information about the benefits of
biodiesel and to assist in the development of educational tools
for a national biodiesel outreach program. The project will
focus on market barriers to biodiesel commercialization and
develop strategies to eliminate these barriers. The goal of this
group will be to provide factual, unbiased information about
biodiesel production and use. A five-point process has been
designed to accomplish the program goals:
1. Conduct Educational and Technical Support Programs
Provide educational support through graphic design and high
quality publications and displays. Design educational materials
for motor fleet operators and others interested in using
biodiesel. Develop workshop's) that focus on the technical
barriers to biodiesel. We anticipate having one workshop per
year that will focus on a different segment of the diesel
market. For example, one year we will focus on school districts,
another year, national parks, a third year trucking fleets. The
purpose of these workshops will be to share experience of user’s
of biodiesel with non-users and to identify issues that need
resolved in order for biodiesel to be more readily acceptable in
the market. We anticipate rotating these workshops between Idaho
and Iowa in order to reach a different segment of the national
population each year.
2. Collect and Disseminate Biodiesel Information
Help develop a “train the trainer program” related to dealing
with the technical aspects of biodiesel, e.g., cold flow issues,
storage stability, evaluating engine warrantee information, and
NOx emissions. These materials will be developed and made
available to those putting on training sessions, participating
in trade shows, national conferences and similar activities. The
topics will be selected from the issues identified by the
biodiesel use surveys and the workshops. We would expect to
publish at least one new such educational material each year. We
would also continue to develop a curriculum for biodiesel
training that could be used for a three credit course in
community colleges and technical schools. These materials would
be made available for use by instructors across the country.
3. Coordinate Biodiesel Education Program with the National
Biodiesel Board
Participate in two national conferences sponsored by the
Biodiesel Fuel Education Program. Help develop educational
materials for tradeshows and promotions. It is anticipated that
our participation would be to develop and interpret the
technical use of biodiesel on topics identified through national
surveys, workshops, and the brainstorming sessions. The
materials would be available for use by the National Biodiesel
Board and others in their promotional and development
activities.
4. Identify and Document Benefits of Biodiesel
We will develop written materials to document knowledge of
research data showing the impact of biodiesel on engine
emissions and operating characteristics, global environmental
impact, rural economic development, and similar topics. The
information will be incorporated into written materials for
distribution to target audiences, such as brochures and
pamphlets. At this time we anticipate these materials might take
the form of a quarterly TechNotes series produced jointly by the
two universities.
5. Identify Information Gaps and Gather Data Pertaining to
the Gaps
Information will be gathered from target audiences and from
other sources about areas where information gaps currently
exist. In order to accomplish this, a survey instrument will be
developed which will be uniformly used with a targeted mailing,
national and regional biodiesel meetings, conferences,
workshops, and trade shows. We will participate in a
brainstorming meeting of biodiesel researchers, manufacturers,
distributors, consumers, and government personnel annually to
discuss and identify the gaps and problems related to biodiesel
preparation, distribution, marketing, application, as well as
long term social and environmental issues. We anticipate that
the National Biodiesel Board will take the lead on the
brainstorming session. The survey data, along with the data
collected from other means, will be compiled and made available
to the biodiesel community as a source to address the
information gaps. Materials will be prepared to present and
explain the data and then these materials will be distributed
through conferences, trade shows, and targeted mailings. It is
anticipated that these materials will become part of our
TechNotes series. Research proposals will be developed for those
information gaps that cannot be fully addressed due to a lack of
data.
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