New Jersey Chemistry Olympics - 2009

Event 2: Environmental Research: 

Biofuels: A Renewable Energy Resource

This event is limited to the first 18 entries

Objective & Background

Energy is the ability to do work. While energy surrounds us in all aspects of life, the ability to harness it and use it for constructive ends as economically as possible is the challenge before mankind. All over the world oil is used as the number one fuel. With oil reserves depleting, finding and using renewable energy sources is of vital importance to our future. Engineers and entrepreneurs are rushing to explore alternative sources of efficient and renewable energy in New Jersey and elsewhere in the country. New Jersey's Clean Energy Program^TM is making renewable energy technologies like solar, wind, and biomass not only affordable and practical, but also smart.

 Requirements

• Research biofuel and biomass as a renewable energy resource as relevant to New Jersey.

• Research inter-relationships with other fields (automobile, engineering, biology, environment, degradation, biodegradation, recycling, regulatory agencies, etc.) and consequences as relevant to New Jersey.

• Provide information on energy sustainability and the need today, global warming, and living green.

• Research the economic edge, the advantages and disadvantages of renewable energy resources. 

• Experimentally determine how efficient certain homemade biofuels are in comparison to diesel fuel and whether using new or used oil in the making of the biofuels alters their efficiency. (Use at least 4-5 different oils.)

Guidelines

• This events must be completed by a team of 2 or 3 students.
• All sources of information must be identified clearly (written sources as well as a list of people who provided assistance)
• All research papers must be built upon information acquired from a minimum of 3 PRIMARY SOURCES.  Although Internet sources may also be utilized in addition to the primary sources judges will be looking at how students select and use information gathered from primary sources.  Examples of primary sources include articles found in peer-reviewed professional journals such as Nature, Science and Journal of Chemical Education.  Peer-reviewed professional journals are available at post-secondary academic libraries.  Peer-reviewed journals that are accessed online are acceptable.  Magazines such as Discover, Science News, Popular Science and Scientific American, although informatory are not peer-reviewed professional journals. You are required to submit photocopies of the first three pages of each primary source used in your paper.
• Any conclusions you form must be based upon your own experimental data from experiments you conduct at your own high school facility.  Commercial assistance is not permitted.
• Your written report may not exceed ten pages - 12 pt., double spaced plus a 2-Part Appendix:  Part 1: up to 10 pages of diagrams, charts, etc. Part 2: Photocopies of the first 3 pages of the primary source articles used in your research.).  Include a cover page that indicates the title of the paper, authors, school, team A or B (if applicable)
• The Appendix must include: 

  Part 1 (max 10 pages).

  • full instructions for the experimental procedures utilized in your analysis,  
  • a complete listing of references used in your research (written sources as well as a list of people who provided assistance)

  Part 2 (minimum 9 pages)

  • Photocopies of the first 3 pages of the primary source articles used in your research.
  • Abstract in lieu of article are not acceptable.
• Prepare either a freestanding poster (maximum 1 x 1-m) or a Power Point presentation that summarizes your research.  Presentations must reflect the information and data presented in the written report.  Schools must supply their own computers, LCD projectors and/or overhead projectors.  A screen will be made available.
• The written paper and poster/Power Point must adhere to the ACS Style Guide.
• Be prepared to make a 3-5-minute oral presentation, one-on-one with the judges.
• Four (4) copies of the complete report (plus DVD/CD, if applicable) must be received by the Director of the NJCO by the deadline indicated in the Competition Guidelines. The reports must be clearly labeled with the school name.  If applicable, also indicate, team A or B.
• In addition to submitting 4 paper copies of each research paper, teams are also required to submit their papers to turnitin.com for review.  Turnitin.com is an online plagiarism detecting service which can be used to verify academic integrity.  Once a research paper has been submitted, teams will have immediate access to the evaluation generated by turnitin.com.  To avoid the appearance of plagiarism it is imperative that students properly cite all material incorporated into their reports.  The judges of the NJCO reserves the right to disqualify any team that submits plagiarized work.  There is no cost to teams for submitting NJCO research papers to Turnitin.com.  An access code will be required and will be furnished to all teams via email after March 1.  All submissions must be in the form of a single file in MS-Word format.
• Bring one extra copy of your report the day of the event.

Judging Criteria

• Written report 50%
• Poster 30%
• Oral Presentation 20%

Team Identification

Each submission (research reports, web CDs, lab reports, etc) must include the following 4 items:

• name of school

• team A or B, designation, if applicable

• names of students (clearly printed legibly)

• name of coach

Event designed by Ms. Mridula Bajaj, Science Park

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Last Updated January 04, 2009