Two Carthage junior high students have come up with a way to utilize sunflower seeds to produce cheap diesel fuel for area farmers.
CJH eighth grade students Hanna Dylan and Ben Derryberry will take their months-long collected data to compete in the Southwest Area TEAM District Contest at Ozark Technical Community College in Springfield.
There’s currently a big push for alternative fuels nationwide, and the big one state and federal government officials are pushing hard are fuels spawned from soybeans.
But the research conducted by the two eighth grade students shows sunflowers can produce more fuel per acre at a much cheaper price.
The data was enough to impress and convince Bastin to do something about it.
“I’ve decided I’m going to try to do this,” he said, “I’m going to plant sunflowers — probably put 12-13 acres out, and see if this works.” Conversion of those acres shouldn’t be too difficult, he said, since he can use a regular combine and “you don’t need any special equipment (except) a crusher, and I’ll see about investing in a crusher to produce the oil.”
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