Tallow Masters to the rescue

The Key West High School Alternative Energy Center has recieved so much grease in the past few weeks that we have just too much to process. While we are pleased that the community has supported us so well, something has to be done about all this excess grease. Once again local company Tallow Masters has saved the day by hauling away our unusable grease. Our sincere thanks goes out to them for continuing to give us their services at no cost to us.

Oil from Louisiana platform explosion to effect Florida Keys

As many of you know, on April 20th, an oil rig 50 miles off the coast of Lousiana exploded and then sank, leaking an estimated 700,000 gallons of crude oil into the water. Now any oil spill anywhere in the world is worrisome for the members of the Alternative Energy Center, but this spill is particularly troulesome to us. While the accident is being called the worst in the decade its ramifications will soon be hitting extremely close to home. According to reports from the NOAA, all the oil from the spill is heading directly for our island. If this oil reaches us, it would be nothing short of disastrous; The oil would destroy what makes Key West beautiful, its reefs and wildlife, and the hit that our tourist-based economy would take could take a long time to recover from.

Biodiesel wins Sunsmart E-shelters Grant

Today the Key West High School Alternative Energy Center recieved news that it has earned yet another grant, this time from The Florida Solar Energy Center. The grant is worth at least 50,000 dollars and was written by students Cole Acevedo and Zack Harden.
This money will be used to install a large solar array on the school grounds, making Key West High School the first school in the state to have such a setup.

Students replace filter

Today, students changed out the filter on the biodiesel car. Pictured is the old filter as well as the remnants of what it helped clean out from the engine.

The biodiesel serves a dual purpose, while it helps keep the enviroment clean, it also helps keep the engine clean by getting rid of much of the excess material conventional gas has left behind.

Working Hard

Some of the hardest workers in during these series of projects is the group digging the hole in order to place the sign next to the turbine. Digging the hole under the hot sun is difficult work but the group is persevering and plans on having their work done soon.

Back to work...Again

The biodiesel portion of this class has come around again; this session will focus on finishing projects that were started earlier in the year, including:

Work on the biodiesel car

Finishing the houses that will be used in an experiment to test the efficency of the new "Peel and stick" PV sheets verses traditional bolted solar arrays

Finishing the walls that will surround both the gas pumping station as well as the grease storage area

Additionally,a few new projects go along with the one of the centers lessons:that green energy can also be beatiful. A few of these projects are:

Continuing to beautify the front of the biodiesel building by staining the concrete

Making a sign to thank the State Farm Youth Advisory Board for their grant