Click to read photo caption. Photo: Paul Latham
Andy Shapiro, a senior environmental health science major, researched how to transform water heaters into biodiesel reactors—contraptions that can make car fuel out of vegetable oil. Shapiro traveled to Thailand this summer as one of four UNC Entrepreneurial Public Service Fellows and helped build a biodiesel reactor for farmers near the town of Krabi. In 2005, Shapiro researched the native jatropha plant’s potential as a good source of inedible oil. Tens of thousands of jatropha saplings were given to local farmers, and this year Shapiro helped them make fuel from the seeds.