PLYMOUTH, UT – Dr. Jacob Kingston, a U of U Mechanical Engineering graduate and the President and CEO of Washakie Renewable Energy, is creating green jobs and helping the environment in Utah.
Washakie Renewable Energy is a biodiesel production company headquartered in Plymouth, Utah. Its $10 million production facility directly employs 65 people in Box Elder County, and has annual sales of $3 million. Plant workers have spent the last year building a system known as the “green line process,” which will facilitate the production of up to 10 million gallons of biodiesel annually. The plant uses animal fats, wastewater, pond scum, and yellow and brown grease as feedstock to produce the biodiesel fuel. The renewable fuel is then sold to local companies and fuel distributors. Washakie also hopes to develop a system using oil-seed crops to produce biofuel in the future.
Jacob, and his brother Isaiah, who is the plant CFO, opened the plant in 2007. Washakie is the largest producer of clean burning and sustainable biodiesel in Utah and is committed to using environmentally friendly chemical processes and natural products to produce fuels.
Jacob Kingston received his Bachelor’s of Science, Master’s of Engineering, and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Utah. Kingston’s Ph.D. dissertation studied the “Drag on Nonspherical, Nonisometric Fuel Particles in Stoker Fired Boilers.” Jacob’s Ph.D. advisor was Dr. Eric Eddings, Professor of Chemical Engineering and Associate Dean for Research.
In support of the College of Engineering’s educational mission, Dr. Kingston and Washakie Renewable Energy initiated a scholarship program in 2010 with funds split between the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Engineering. Washakie selected two graduate students, Michael Homel and Phillip Jankovich, and three undergraduate students, Kevin Briggs, David Christensen, and Jake Merrel, from the Department of Mechanical Engineering to receive the 2011 scholarships. These scholarships are designed to support each student’s research on renewable energy technologies.
For more information about Washakie Renewable Energy and the biofuels they produce, visit their website at www.wrebiofuels.com.