Sunday morning – Wake up! We’re going to learn about biodiesel! 8am on a Sunday morning, and the Udall crew was off to meet with about a dozen Nashville residents and Vanderbilt students to see the site for the soon-to-be biodiesel pilot plant on campus. Derek Riley, a PhD candidate in Computer Science Modeling at Vanderbilt explained to the audience how the WilSkills club began this initiative to produce biodiesel to use for their outings (with the help of '06 Udall Scholar Jenny Magill). What started as a small student hobby will soon be a small operating facility adjacent to the university’s coal-fired power plant. The main lessons we took away from this visit were that potassium hydroxide is preferred over sodium hydroxide (lye), though more expensive, because it clumps up less often, methanol is preferred over ethanol because the process is more forgiving, and cool things happen when students don’t wait for others to support their projects, but rather go ahead and try it first. The discussion was followed by a tour of Vanderbilt’s new LEED certified Commons building, which is almost completely constructed and will be a multi-purpose building for students.
For most of us, the afternoon was spent moseying around Nashville with Derek listening to live country music at Roberts Western World and the Bluegrass Inn (where there is no cover, and beer is cheaper than soda). Lunch was enjoyed on cigarette-burned lawn furniture on a fake grass turf porch at Paradise Park.
At 4pm, we meandered over to the office of Hastings Architecture, which is the only LEED-certified building in Nashville. Here we were greeted by David Bailey and Erik Lund of Hastings and my good family friends, the Saucy Sisters (Barbara and Beverly). After sampling one or two glasses of Foris wine (grown organically in Oregon), donated by Vicki Turner at VPT Ventures, we all mingled and went on a tour of Hasting’s impressive green building, which was constructed inside the skeleton of an old warehouse. Hastings has been a part of the green building movement since the early days, and continues to inspire visitors to their building.
As a perfect end to our day in Nashville, we headed over to Barbara’s house, for the most delicious home-cooked meal of the trip . . . and more wine, of course. If anyone could show this group how to have fun together, it was these two sisters. Great food, good friends, good wine, and a beautiful evening to eat out on the patio really helped the Udallers unwind and enjoy each others company . . . so much so, that we held our first spontaneous dance party on the bus as we got ready to leave the neighborhood. Thank you Saucy Sisters!!
By: Bret Strogen
2 comments:
Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun!
It's amazing how this concept of having a biodiesel plant right in campus was pioneered by students. It just goes to show that youth isn't wasted on the young. I've already read about the Hastings building, and it does seem like a really nice place to work in. I hope more people would be more concerned about the environment and employ more ways to lessen pollution and not contribute to waste. Using biodiesel would certainly be a good start.
Oh, btw, the corn looks really cute! It seems... happy, and having fun.
I'm so glad you were able to come to Nashville and visit Vanderbilt! I wish I could have been there for it, but it looks like Derek showed you a wonderful time. I am so glad I was able to be a part of creating the biodiesel initiative during my last year there, and it's event better to know it will now be part of the Udall legacy, too!
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