A $50,000 EPA Environmental Education Grant Will Teach Students to Convert Cooking Oil to Fuel

A $50,000 EPA Environmental Education Grant

Will Teach Students to Convert Cooking Oil to Fuel

(DALLAS – May 9, 2012) The Gulfsouth Youth Biodiesel Project is training 70 out-of-school youths to collect and recycle used cooking oil into biodiesel fuel. Operation REACH, Inc. is receiving $50,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Environmental Education Grants program to introduce students to opportunities in the Green Collar workforce.

The participants will learn about diesel engines and the process of converting used cooking oil and raw feedstock into biodiesel fuel. Operation Reach has commitments from Zeon Global Energy and the Goshen Energy Initiatives to employ graduates, and is partnering with several local restaurants and industrial kitchens across Jefferson and Orleans parishes to collect used cooking oil. 

More information on the EPA’s environmental education grant program is available at http://www.epa.gov/education/grants.html

More about activities in EPA Region 6 is available at http://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/region6.html

# # #