Gulfsouth Youth Biodiesel Project
This entry has been selected as a finalist in the
Strong Communities: Engaging Citizens, Strengthening Place, Inspiring Change competition.
Operation REACH’s Gulfsouth Youth Biodiesel Project is an innovative youth-led social enterprise designed to collect and recycle New Orleans’ used cooking oil into environmentally-friendly biodiesel fuel as a means of educating and developing leadership, environmental stewardship, and social entrepreneurship of young people for the “Green Collar” workforce.
About You
About You
First Name
Kyshun
Last Name
Webster
Organization
Operation REACH, Inc
Country
United States, LA, Orleans Parish
About Your Organization
Organization Name
Operation REACH, Inc
Organization Website
Organization Phone
(504) 529-1922
Organization Address
2115 Carondelet Street New Orleans, LA 70130
Organization Country
United States
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Your idea
Name Your Project
Gulfsouth Youth Biodiesel Project
Country your work focuses on
United States
Describe Your Idea
Operation REACH’s Gulfsouth Youth Biodiesel Project is an innovative youth-led social enterprise designed to collect and recycle New Orleans’ used cooking oil into environmentally-friendly biodiesel fuel as a means of educating and developing leadership, environmental stewardship, and social entrepreneurship of young people for the “Green Collar” workforce.
Website URL
Innovation
What makes your idea unique?
The Gulfsouth Youth Biodiesel Project is unique because it helps create strong communities in several distinctive ways:
1.It creates a market for alternative fuels like biodiesel as a viable and available alternative in a city that is in the shadow of the largest oil spill that has ever touched the shores of the United States.
2.It makes New Orleans’ reputation for fried foods into an asset. The project has the potential to recycle up to 2 million gallons of cooking oil that is used in New Orleans each year to fry local culinary delights from beignets to shrimp and oysters. Much of the city’s cooking oil ends up in storm drains, backyards or other waste streams.
3.It engages out-of-school youth between the ages of 16 and 24 who have been termed by many as “hard to reach.” These young people not only learn about, but lead the production and promotion of renewable energy.
4.It is a mission-based social enterprise, designed to generate earned income to support the fulfillment of the mission of Operation REACH, Inc.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
What impact have you had?
Following nearly two years of research, design and business planning, Operation REACH graduated its first class of 15 students from the seven-month program in May. These students are either currently working in green jobs or attending college, if not both. Program participants have shown improved perceptions of self-efficacy, leadership, and ability to effect change as well as an increased understanding of the biofuels industry, knowledge of how to design an effective community outreach campaign, and how to produce biofuels.
Operation REACH has developed a pilot-scale biodiesel plant and teaching facility in partnership with Louisiana Technical College. The project has already distributed 1,000 gallons of biodiesel to fleets, converting diesel users to biodiesel as a more eco-friendly alternative. Local restaurants and kitchens have committed 10,000 gallons of used cooking oil to the project per month. Local construction companies have committed to buying 10,000 gallons of biodiesel per month. This is just the beginning, as plans are currently underway to scale the project to produce one million gallons of biodiesel per year. The Gulfsouth Youth Biodiesel Project is leading the way in building a market for biodiesel in New Orleans, while seeking opportunities to scale the project in Operation REACH’s locations across the South. The Gulfsouth Youth Biodiesel Project has already been recognized for its innovation. Kyshun Webster was named the Innovator of the Year for the State of Louisiana in 2009 for his work with the project by the Southern Growth Policies Board.
Problem
The Gulfsouth Youth Biodiesel Project is designed to address two problems:
1.The need for workforce opportunities and lack of exposure of out-of-school low-income youth to career paths in the growing green economy. Youth, ages 16-24, in New Orleans are more likely to live in poverty and drop out of high school, and less likely to attend college or be employed.
2.The continued reliance of the United States and Gulf South region on fossil fuels. This dependence has caused geopolitical conflict, global warming and continued environmental degradation. This project educates and engages the public in understanding these issues and contributing to alternatives. Biodiesel fuel has been shown to reduce emissions that lead to air pollution and global warming.
Actions
Over the last three months, Operation REACH, Inc. completed its first seven-month training cycle as well as fully equipping its pilot plant and teaching facility. Operation REACH is currently scaling up operations while simultaneously designing a full-scale production plant. This includes identifying philanthropic and investment capital, securing additional purchase commitments from biodiesel buyers and cooking oil suppliers, and refining the production process to increase consistency and efficiency.
Potential barriers to success include a lack of government support for biodiesel (including the recent biodiesel tax credit that expired), inability to raise the necessary capital, low margins of profit, the need to produce at scale, and basic challenges associated with the population we are training, including transportation, child care, homelessness, literacy, and engagement with the criminal justice system.
Results
Deliverables:
-Collect up to 10,000 gallons of used cooking oil per month for recycling into biodiesel fuel.
-Train at least 50 program participants with at least 75% placement in work or education upon program completion.
-Conduct outreach to educate at least 500 community members about biodiesel.
-Distribute 10,000 gallons of biodiesel for usage by local diesel fleets per month, significantly reducing emissions that have been shown to lead to global warming.
What will it take for your project to be successful over the next three years? Please address each year separately, if possible.
Year 1: Demonstration:
Over the next year, Operation REACH will continue to develop and position the Gulfsouth Youth Biodiesel Project as a demonstration or community-scale biodiesel production and effective green job training for out-of-school youth. We will ramp up our cooking oil collection, biodiesel production, and distribution to approximately 10,000 gallons per month with a handful of stable partners and clients. We will use this time train additional staff, refine operations, collect lessons learned, and prepare for additional scaling of the project.
Year 2: Scaling
By 2010, we will have secured the necessary investment, expertise and permits to equip and operate a larger biodiesel production facility with a production capacity of up to one million gallons per year. We will scale up used cooking oil collection as well as biodiesel production, including hiring and training additional staff, purchasing an additional collection vehicle and identifying and securing additional clients and partners.
Year 3: Sustainability
By 2013, the Gulfsouth Youth Biodiesel Project will operate entirely in the black. The project will have the appropriate systems, policies, procedures, partnerships, clients and staff in place to ensure sustainability. As the model is perfected, we will look to expansion and replication opportunities elsewhere across the South,
What would prevent your project from being a success?
Several factors could prevent the project from being successful. External factors that could impact the success of the project could include dramatic decreases in diesel prices or unexpected increases in cost of materials. The success of biodiesel depends on it being competitively priced with traditional diesel fuel. Federal tax credits have incentivized production and usage of biodiesel. If these tax credits are allowed to expire and not renewed over the long-term, they could adversely affect the project. An additional factor that could impact the bottom-line sustainability of the project would be an inability to secure enough cooking oil for production. The scaling of the project is based on estimates of available used cooking oil in the city and research on the current competition for collection. Dramatic differences in these areas could prevent the project from being as successful. Additionally, the project depends on staff who can combine the technical management of a process with training a challenging population of vulnerable youth. This combination of abilities can be rare, but is required for the success of the program.
How many people will your project serve annually?
101‐1000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
$1000 - 4000
Does your project seek to have an impact on public policy?
Yes
Sustainability
What stage is your project in?
Operating for less than a year
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Yes
If yes, provide organization name.
Operation REACH, Inc.
How long has this organization been operating?
More than 5 years
Does your organization have a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board?
Yes
Does your organization have a non-monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Yes
Does your organization have a non-monetary partnerships with businesses?
Yes
Does your organization have a non-monetary partnerships with government?
Yes
Please tell us more about how these partnerships are critical to the success of your innovation.
Operation REACH has partnered with the Louisiana Technical College Region 1. The College has provided a warehouse free of charge, which has been developed into a pilot production and teaching facility. The College also provides expertise in welding, pipefitting, carpentry, and technical training that has been invaluable to the successful development of the project.
Organizations, including the American Culinary Federation, Greater New Orleans Hotel and Lodging Association, Share Our Strength and the Louisiana Restaurant Association have assisted us in promoting the project and securing commitments of used cooking oil. Additional non-monetary business, government and NGO partners have provided technical expertise and advice for the project, including Zeon Global Energy, Goshen Energy Initiatives, the Louisiana State University W.A. Callegari Environmental Center, Inverse Energy, Refuel Savannah, Organic Fuels, DSAD Heavy Construction, the Southeast Louisiana Clean Fuels Partnership, the Tulane University Office of Environmental Affairs, and Community Wealth Ventures, among others.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization?
1.Long-term low interest financial investment. Securing the necessary financial resources through a combination of grants, loans and additional private and philanthropic investment is critical to the success and scaling of this initiative. To date, Operation REACH has already secured more than $400,000 in grants to support the initiative. It is estimated that scaling the project to a sustainable production scale will cost approximately $1 million.
2.Donations of used cooking oil. A steady supply of cheap or free used cooking oil as feedstock for biodiesel production is critical to the cost effectiveness of the project. Securing continued contributions of used cooking oil through a combination of dedicated partners, high-quality oil collection service, and tax incentives for cooking oil donations is critical to maintaining control over the primary ingredient or feedstock in biodiesel fuel.
3.Continuous improvement in efficiency and process design for biodiesel production. Continued process and technical improvements in biodiesel production will allow us to maximize the amount and efficiency of production of a high-quality biodiesel product while minimizing inputs. Continued improvements in the efficiency of our biodiesel production process will lead to continued quality improvements in our biodiesel.
The Story
What was the defining moment that you led to this innovation?
New Orleans is a city famous for its fried foods. Each year, the Greater New Orleans area produces more than 3 million gallons of used cooking oil—most of which is disposed of rather than recycled. Now, Operation REACH’s Gulfsouth Youth Biodiesel Project (GYBP) aims to transform the region’s reputation for fried foods into an asset rather than just a health concern by turning used cooking oil into environmentally-friendly biodiesel fuel.
Biodiesel is a rapidly growing “green industry,” with biodiesel production increasing from two million gallons per year to over 700 million gallons per year from 2000 to 2008. In addition, 25 percent of energy in the United States is expected to come from renewable sources like biodiesel by 2025. Many of Louisiana’s teens and young adults, however, will find themselves left out of the emerging, high-growth alternative energy industry. In Louisiana, 20% of residents ages 18-24 are not attending school, are not working, and have no degree beyond high school (compared to 15% nationally). Twenty-six percent of residents in that age group live in poverty.
By equipping New Orleans-area young people ages 16-24 with leadership, business, and technical skills, the GYBP is connecting this population of hard-to-reach, out-of-work, and out-of-school youth with career paths into the new green economy. The Gulfsouth Youth Biodiesel Project (GYBP) is a youth-led social enterprise focusing on the production and sale of biodiesel fuel as a means of educating and developing leadership and social entrepreneurship in young people as part of a “Green Collar” workforce. Over the course of a 7-month program that combines classroom instruction with hands-on work, underserved youth receive effective job training that enables them to pursue job opportunities previously closed to them. In addition, they become part of the movement to conserve our national resources and reduce the South’s dependence on traditional fossil fuels. By 2012 GYBP participants may be able to recycle more than half a million gallons of used cooking oil into biodiesel fuel and generate nearly $1 million in revenue each year.
Tell us about the social innovator behind this idea.
New Orleans native and public school graduate Dr. Kyshun Webster is a nationally recognized educator and certified teacher who has worked in the nonprofit sector as a community educator since he was 12 years old with the start of his own at-home peer tutoring program. Raised in the St. Bernard Housing Development, he returned there to start his first formal after-school tutorial program in 1998. Later recognized by the Tiger Woods Sharing and Catering Awards Program, Dr. Webster was declared a “local hero.” In 1999, he officially incorporated Operation REACH, Inc., and will celebrate the organization’s 11 year anniversary in the fall of 2010.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Through another organization or company
If through another, please provide the name of the organization or company
