NORWICH – Students in the DCMO BOCES Career and Technical Education Programs are exploring the use of alternative energy resources in a project that will convert the Campus Security patrol car into a bi-fuel vehicle.

For several weeks, students in Harold Stevens’ Security and Law class and Jim Foster’s Auto Tech class have been earning science credits by studying alternative energy resources in Erin Engle-Thomas’s science class and brainstorming ideas to apply this knowledge to their field of interest. Together, teachers came up with an idea to modify the Campus Security car to run on both gasoline and compressed natural gas in a project that integrated students’ knowledge of alternative energy.

Stevens purchased an $1,100 natural gas conversion kit for the car earlier this year, teaching his class the financial aspects and the pros and cons of the project.

With the kit at hand, students in the auto shop program began work on the vehicle a week ago, mapping ways to install the 15-gallon natural gas tank in the trunk of the car and lead the fuel to the car’s engine. According to Foster, controls inside the car will allow the operator to change from gasoline to natural gas at the flip of a switch.