Earthrace challenger boat visit inspires St Edward's green competition

St Edward's College has joined forces with local company EORC to cultivate environmental awareness through a competition for students based on the arrival in Malta on April 18 of the Earthrace challenger boat for refuelling.

This joint venture between the college and Malta's largest producer of bio-diesel came about because of the common interest in environmental values which both share, and the recent international calls for greater efforts to stop global warming.

Students applying for the competition have been invited to produce a project on global warming and the use of alternative clean burning bio-diesel. This competition, which closes on May 5, will be judged by a three-person independent panel, and is open to students between the ages of 10 and 14. Winners will receive a computer.

St Edward's College students will be visiting the Earthrace challenger boat during its stay at the Grand Harbour Marina in Vittoriosa. The boat, which is being brought over by EORC, left Barbados on Tuesday, and is aiming to circumnavigate the globe in a record 65 days.

It will be arriving in Malta on April 18 to refuel with EORC's bio-fuel, for the boat's four-man crew to have a short break, and to collect a sponsor, Ted Varner, who will join the leg of the race from Malta to the Canary Islands as the fifth crew member. Apart from setting a new time record, the boat is the first to use bio-diesel to attempt to circle the globe.

Bio-diesel was first formulated in 1895. Chemically it is methyl ester, a renewable fuel made from plant oils and animal fats. It is biodegradable, and produces 78.5 per cent lower carbon dioxide emissions than petroleum diesel.

It is the only alternative fuel that runs in any conventional, unmodified diesel engines and is a proven fuel with over 20 years of use in Europe and is now being explored as an alternative energy source in the United States.