Bar Harbor - No more gasoline, that's the goal of some students at a local college.

You'll have a new appreciation for leftovers after you see what one College of the Atlantic student is doing to reach that goal.


Believe it or not, Nick Harris is showing off last night's dinner.

" Some tuna salad, some red bell peppers, some falafel," said Harris.

Even more surprising, he's turning it into a fuel, not for bodies but for buildings.

" Butanol is a fuel that can replace gasoline in heating oil," said Harris, a senior at College of the Atlantic.

" You're taking a waste product and turning it into a resource," said Jay Friedlander, chairman of Green and Socially Responsible Business at College of the Atlantic.

Thanks to a more than $700,000 grant from USDA Rural Development, students at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor have been developing their own business ventures.

" We are really excited about the technology that he's working on," said Virginia Manuel, state director for USDA Rural Development.

Harris has big goals for his invention.

" Be able to produce enough to replace all the gasoline in heating oil used by College of the Atlantic," said Harris.

" What we would love to see is Butanol being used in vehicles around the state to lessen dependence on oil and gasoline ultimately," said Manuel.

" No food waste off the island, no fuel on. So, completely close the loop," added Harris.

The process works like a digestive system and a brewery with the final product being Butanol.

Some food for thought next time you go to toss out your leftovers.

Harris says he plans to stay in Maine after he graduates and would like to have MDI operating on Butanol within 10 years.

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