May 22, 2006—Students from Appalachian State University drove from North Carolina to Washington, DC, in a bus entirely powered by biodiesel fuel made from recycled cooking oil. University of Michigan at Ann Arbor students are “growing” materials for construction of buildings, both to use natural fibers and to encourage a new market for agriculture. These were two of the winning projects at the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) People, Prosperity, and the Planet (P3) awards ceremony May 10.
This national competition enables college students to research, develop and design scientific, technical, and policy solutions to sustainability challenges. The P3 award includes funding up to $75,000 that gives the students an opportunity to further develop their designs and move them to the marketplace.
Winners of this year’s awards and their projects are:
- Appalachian State University, Boone, NC—Closing the Biodiesel Loop: community based production of ASTM D6751-03 standard fuel from local waste vegetable oil;
- Lafayette College, Easton, PA—Sustainable Water Systems in Honduras: a simple method to remove inorganic arsenic from groundwater sources;
- Portland State University, Portland, OR—WISE: an interactive Web site for educators and students on a holistic (whole systems) approach to sustainable development guided by the WISE owl;
- Stanford University, Stanford, CA—The Green Dorm: design and construction of a sustainable facility for residential, laboratory, and commons space;
- University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA—Cancer treatment drugs from green tea: novel used non-toxic enzymes to extract poly (catechins) with promising anti-tumor activity; and
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI—Growing Alternative Sustainable Buildings from natural fiber, biodegradable, or recyclable materials.
For more information about the P3 Award competition, see the EPA Web site.
