Andrew Azman
Owings Mills, MD
Andrew founded CU Biodiesel, working to switch the bus fleets of the University of Colorado and the City of Boulder from petroleum diesel fuel to vegetable oil-based biodiesel fuel. What started as a class project to turn cafeteria fryer grease into diesel fuel grew to include an ongoing region-wide education program, construction of biodiesel processors for refueling, and a commitment from the City of Boulder to begin fueling its entire city bus fleet with biodiesel. Running vehicles on biodiesel requires little or no modification of the standard diesel engine – which was originally designed to burn peanut oil – and biodiesel can be mixed with petroleum diesel. Using biodiesel eliminates sulfur dioxide emissions (the source of acid rain), reduces carbon monoxide emissions by over 40%, soot emissions by 50%, and net carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) emissions by as much as 100% versus petroleum diesel. The exhaust from petroleum diesel vehicles is now officially listed by state and federal authorities as a cancer-causing agent. “The biodiesel movement now is gaining momentum globally and growing rapidly,” Andrew said hopefully.