MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) — A Middle Tennessee State University professor is driving from Key West, Florida, to Seattle in a vehicle fueled by waste chicken fat and waste vegetable oil from school dining facilities.
Alternatives fuels researcher Cliff Ricketts will begin his journey today, stopping at MTSU along the way and arriving in Seattle next week. The School of Agribusiness and Agriscience faculty member will be driving a 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit pickup truck on the 3,550-mile trek.
Ricketts says that his goal and passion is to keep the U.S. from using foreign oil. He says biodiesel made from waste animal fat and waste vegetable oil has the potential to have a major impact on U.S. petroleum consumption.