Wake Technical Community College is holding a two-day bio-diesel workshop this week. Students will learn how to convert waste vegetable oil into bio-diesel using the college’s new 40-gallon processor. Rich Cregar, an instructor in Automotive Systems Technology, started the course four years ago as part of a state-wide project to incorporate sustainable technologies into the curriculum of North Carolina’s community colleges. He says while we may not see cars running on bio-fuel flooding the road right now, students interested in auto mechanics will need to know how to work on cars using alternative energy.
"A graduate from our program can do maintenance on a hybrid, do diagnostics and repair on a flex-fuel vehicle or a bio-diesel vehicle. As these technologies come on the market we need to train our students how to work on them."
Cregar adds that while the course is designed for engineers and educators, “homebrewers”—or people that convert fuel for personal use—will benefit as well.