Students Build School Bus That Runs on Used Cooking Oil

With the help of American manufacturer Ford, a group from the Georgia Institute of Technology embarked on a mission that will lead to the creation the first ever hydraulic hybrid school bus conversion in the US. Financed through a $50,000 Ford College Community Challenge Grant, the project is meant to become the starting point for a possible future generation school buses.

The traditional school bus, donated by the Atlanta Public Schools (APS) and whose details are still kept under wraps, will be converted to run on recycled biofuel (read used cooking oil). The goal is to make the bus more environmentally friendly by lowering greenhouse emissions and more student friendly, by reducing transportation costs.

The project is headed by Michael Leamy, Georgia Tech assistant professor of mechanical engineering and his students. The group has already developed, from scratch, the hydraulic hybrid system for the bus and have nearly completed the installation of the system.

For the APS, the project ran by Leamy is the perfect teaching tool for students. The organization plans to use the work conducted for this project to educate the next generation about green energy.

“Together with Georgia Tech and Atlanta Public Schools, we are taking innovation from the classroom to the community,” said Jim Vella, president, Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services.

“This is a noteworthy example of the types of programs we are bringing to Atlanta as part of our new Operation Goodwill partnership with local Ford and Lincoln dealers with the goal of expanding our engagement with this community.”