The 1979 Oldsmobile Salon was equipped with a V8 diesel engine that is often cited as one of the hundreds of crappy screw ups that eventually brought General Motors to its knees.

The head gaskets were the same as the ones GM used for gasoline engines - and while that cut production costs, the gaskets proved too weak, leading to breached seals, broken bolts, multiple trips to the repair shop, and a reputation for unreliability that helped put the kibosh on the market for American made diesel cars for a good 20 years.

But the fuel injection systems for the engines were pretty good. And that’s why Don Reynoldson figures his auto shop class at Ingraham High School in north Seattle might be able to power an old 1979 Salon with fish oil from the Bering Sea as part of a class project next fall.

First though they’ll have to work out the chemistry of transforming the raw Pollock oil into fuel stock, an adventure that for Reynoldson is just the kind of learning that auto shop is all about.

That's because he views auto shop as a lot more than an introduction to cars. Today it's a spring board to technology and the life opportunities available to his students. In fact auto shop is also an ideal place to teach students about the technological nuts and bolts of the Green Economy.

Listen to Reynoldson explain it, and the connections become clear. Cars run on fuel and fuel is all about chemistry. Auto body work is all about material science and industrial design. Applied math is integral to all of it. Reynoldson says it can take him four pages to show other teachers the math problems his students are required to solve nearly every day.

Begin to master practical skills and sciences like these and your perspective on life's possibilities begins to grow along with your self confidence. As Don says, "In auto shop, it all comes together."

His students developed a fuel refinery last year by converting an old hot water tank. They’ve already made fuel from vegetable oil but the challenge of creating fuel from Pollock oil is a different kettle of fish. "After the students figure out how to make the Pollock oil work, the regular curriculum will make a lot more sense," Reynoldson said.

Assuming the project works, the Pollock-powered Salon will be among the lead exhibits at the Second Annual Green Industrial Business and Career Expo on October 9 2009.

The fish oil car project was inspired by Seattle seafood companies that rig the power systems for their factory trawlers to run on fish oil when they begin processing Pollock at sea. The main engines are too refined to run on fish fuel, but many of the other power systems on the ships work just as well powered by fish oil as by diesel.

Using fish guts to create the oil that creates the fuel helps the fishing companies because it makes productive use of all parts of the fish. In the fishing industry, 100% fish utilization is always a goal. But the fish oil fuel also helps save diesel fuel, and that lowers costs. By saving fuel, it also makes the boats more energy efficient. Put that all together and it makes the fish oil car "green" enough to qualify for the Expo.

The Alaska seafood industry is also surprisingly green. The Alaskan Pollock, salmon, cod, halibut, and salmon fisheries are considered some of the best-managed fisheries in the world and they are all rated "sustainable" by the international Marine Stewardship Council. Except for the salmon fisheries, which are fished primarily by boats and crews from Alaska, the other fisheries are harvested primarily by Washington-based companies and Seattle is home to some of the leading seafood companies in the United States.

Don Reynoldson found the fish oil for his project through Kim Suelzle with the CityIce cold storage company based at Interbay at the north end of Seattle’s Elliott Bay. Don needed about 20 gallons. Kim found him 300, courtesy of American Seafoods.

Finding that much fish oil inspired Don to partner up with two science teachers and a math teacher at Ingraham. The four of them will cooperate next year on a series of biofuel projects involving fish oil, vegetable oil, and mineral oil. The students will refine fuel from each source, try out different additives, then test which ones and combinations work best for energy efficiency and emissions.

Each class project will be coordinated with visits to fishing boats at Interbay to find out how the technology was developed and to learn more about careers and professional skills in the Alaskan-Seattle seafood industry.

Don started teaching in 2004, after spending nearly 30 years in the automotive repair business, including 20 years as the owner of "Don’s Quality Automotive," which, as he likes to joke, "Was not the most creative name I might have thought of." Then, after selling the business, he was asked to try working in the Seattle public schools as a teacher and he leapt at the chance. A father of three grown children, Don says "I love kids, I love auto mechanics. I’m doing what I enjoy doing on two fronts and I get paid for doing it."

The 1979 Oldsmobile Salon was donated to Don’s auto shop class by a retired Ingraham teacher, Barbara Cummins, who used to teach business education and yearbook. The Salon was owned by her father-in-law, a mechanical engineer.

Salons might have been clunkers, but Barb says this one will wind up serving its highest and best use. "My father-in-law would have loved what Don is going to do with that car and the kids," she said.

Hopefully, that will include powering it with Pollock oil at the Green Expo.

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At the 2004 Earth Day Fair at the University of Washington, Lyle Rudensey was offered a sip of biodiesel fuel. He took it.

"I smelled it, I tasted it, and I was just so struck by the fact there was a fuel that could run your car, but it was so nontoxic you could drink it."

With that, Rudensey set out to become a biodiesel energy advocate and producer. Branding himself under the nickname "Bio Lyle," he has offered biodiesel workshops and now has a DVD that shows people how to make their own biodiesel using a homemade "Appleseed" converter or a BioPro 190 industrial grade biodiesel processor.

The BioPro 190 takes about 48 hours to produce 50 gallons of finished fuel from a combination of 50 gallons of used or new vegetable oil or oil from animal fat, 10 gallons of methanol, and 45 gallons of fresh water. Include some Lye and sulfuric acid, and the resulting fuel can power a diesel engine while remaining safe enough to drink.

The Bio Pro 190 also serves as the refinery for a biodiesel co-op in Seattle’s Madrona neighborhood. About 20 people and a few restaurant owners bring the co-op their waste oil. The Bio Pro then turns it into fuel that the co-op members buy back for $3 per gallon to fuel their diesel vehicles.

The co-op produces 100 to 150 gallons per week, and while that’s hardly even a drop in the bucket of the gasoline burned by Seattleites, the co-op and Rudensey illustrate an important aspect of the transition away from fossil fuels.

Whether your interest in a greener economy arises from concerns about climate change or national energy security, or both, our big problems require big solutions.

Natural gas could cut the nation’s carbon footprint dramatically if it replaced coal for electrical generation. Enormous reductions would be achieved if electricity can replace gasoline to power the transportation system. Changes in transcontinental energy transmission systems could make it possible to bring the nation’s huge wind power potential to market.

There is little doubt these measures will work, but the transitions will require mammoth efforts involving some of the largest corporations and public agencies in the world.

Yet, consumer choices and other individual actions add up, too. This was pointed out in the 2008 presidential campaign when Barak Obama suggested Americans might eliminate the need for additional domestic offshore oil drilling if they would just properly adjust the air pressure in their car tires.

The assertion was ridiculed by some, but when it was investigated by the automotive editor for Popular Mechanics magazine, his research showed Obama was right.

The editor determined that if a single tire on a car was under inflated by 10 pounds per square inch (PSI), it would increase the car’s fuel consumption by more than 3 %. Assuming all four car tires might also be under inflated, the tires might increase the car’s fuel consumption by more than 10%.

Digging deeper, the editor found a study by the US Department of Transportation that estimated 60% to 80% of the tires of American vehicles are under inflated by at least 10%, and that 20% to 50% of those tires are under inflated by up to 20%.

The editor reported these underinflated tires also posed safety and maintenance issues. Regarding fuel consumption, he concluded that Americans could save about 1.25 billion gallons of gasoline every year if they inflated their tires correctly. That’s just one percent of US gas consumption. But, according to the editor, the Energy Information Administration says that’s about equal to the amount of gas that could be produced annually by more off-shore drilling in the Lower 48 states.

Lyle Rudensey checks his tire air pressure regularly and does lots of other things to help clean up the environment. He drives a Jetta that is powered by biodiesel from the co-op. His partner drives a Prius. Their house is powered in part by solar panels. The house is heated by a stove that runs off biodiesel. They have a low-flush toilet, rain barrels for catching water to irrigate their garden, compact fluorescent light bulbs throughout the house, and they use canvas bags for all their shopping.

Originally from New Jersey, Lyle became interested in Seattle after reading a diary written in 1906 by his great uncle about his experiences mining for gold in Alaska. He moved to Seattle in 1980, after earning degrees in biology and chemistry, and found work dong AIDS research at the University of Washington. He later worked as a teacher in the Seattle Public Schools and participated in outreach programs for educators about environmental health issues.

Through those efforts he learned of the health risks posed by diesel fuel, which he says contains 15 known carcinogens, and the use of which contributes to other problematic conditions such as asthma. It bothered him that diesel is the fuel used by most school buses and that the students riding the buses were regularly exposed to diesel fumes.

Biodiesel has 90% fewer carcinogens, and after taking that sip of biodiesel at the 2004 Earth Day Fair Lyle was hooked. Not long after that, "Bio Lyle" was born.

"My interest in biodiesel comes from a few directions," he said. "There’s excitement about using a fuel that is a lot better for the earth and for human health than petroleum-based fuels. There’s the beauty of being able to make one’s own fuel and not support the big oil companies and going to war to protect our oil supply. My interest began just after the Iraq war started, and I didn’t want to support it through my fuel consumption. I also love the recycling component where waste grease is made into fuel. If I had to pick one thing, I’d say that is it is the reduction of CO2 emissions that is the most compelling reason."

While Rudensey remains committed to biodiesel as a cleaner, healthier fuel source, he says this is a not a good time to be in the biodiesel business. Interest in the fuel source was much higher in 2008 when gasoline prices climbed so high. Large-scale biodiesel producers are also securing exclusive contracts with many restaurants, limiting the available fuel stock.

"I want to continue to advocate for biodiesel, and other green energy solutions, but I’m not sure I will continue to focus on that."

His taste buds may yet again play a role in his next career move. "I’m actually quite interested in cooking, especially vegetarian cuisine, and I have been taking and assisting in some cooking classes. I’ve gotten a little burned out on biodiesel, to be honest. I just feel a need to do some other things."