Prince George, B.C.- It is not unusual to hear a student ask a parent if they can “borrow the car”, but the scenario played out at UNBC is a new twist and the student came up the big winner.

 

UNBC PhD student Geoff de Ruiter borrowed UNBC President George Iwama’s  hybrid  Toyota Prius to attend  a province wide contest that challenged students to come up with a plan to optimize natural gas use for a greener BC.   

 

The contest was being held at UBC and de Ruiter says “I thought travelling in an eco-friendly car would be an appropriate way for a representative of Canada’s Green University to get to an eco-friendly contest.” He actually swapped his pick up truck for the use of the Prius, but still, it says something about the University in Northern B.C. when a student could even imagine making that kind of request of the head of a University. 

 

“I’ve honestly never been asked to trade cars with a student before,’” laughs Dr. Iwama. “I purchased that vehicle and personalized its plates (4 UNBC) as a symbol of the direction the University is taking and our leadership in green research. Although Geoff’s request was a little ‘outside of the box,’ it is entirely consistent with the message UNBC wants to put forward as a leader in sustainability, and evokes the creative problem-solving abilities of our students, faculty, and staff. I was happy to do it—and Geoff’s pickup was a fun change.”

 

The car performed well for de Ruiter, as he calculated he used 3.8 litres per 100 kilometres (74 Canadian miles per gallon). The gas for the return trip cost him all of $86.

 

We don’t know if driving the fuel efficient vehicle had anything to do with the contest results, but we can tell you, this student can now afford the gas for his pick up. He won the contest with his submission ““Shifting our Natural Gas Use to a Centralized Model” which presented a scenario for the centralization of natural gas use through technology coupling and heat recovery.  Winning the contest means de Ruiter came home with the $10,000 prize.