Bailey has experimented with canola oil as a substitute for motor oil, with good results, he said.

"I just think we could do it," he said of a biofuel business.

Greg Carver, co-advisor of the FFA chapter, was a little less bullish.

The project will need to start small, he said, but it can work. "I see it as another opportunity for students to get involved."

FFA students have operated a greenhouse at the high school for several years, Carter pointed out.

Holly Minkler, a new WHS instructor, will teach an entrepreneurism class in the fall. Materials and support will be provided by Youth Entrepreneurs of Kansas (YEK), a program backed by the Koch Foundation, according to Torrence.

Torrence, Carver and Minkler plan to attend a seminar on biofuel in August at the University of Colorado, where students now turn

restaurant oil into fuel.

Bailey said he had already signed up for the entrenpreneurism class.

The local project has the support of USD 465 superintendent Marvin Estes, who called the effort "the kind of thing we are trying to

encourage." Estes guessed the idea of entrepreneurism would attract a lot of students.

"It's going to take a lot of work and a lot of patience," he added.

Winfield High School Principal Greg Rinehart said he had encouraged Torrence and her colleagues to check into the idea and "go forward with it."

Students today need to see real-life applications of what they are learning, Rinehart said.

Both Estes and Rinehart expressed concern about safety in the process of converting the grease and oil into biofuel.

A complete kit with instructions on how to process the substances is available, Torrence said.

She plans to purchase it with federal "Carl Perkins" grant funds. Those funds are intended to supplement local resources for equipment and other expenses to provide hands-on learning experiences for students, Torrence said.

The kits cost about $4,000, she said.

Torrence credited her husband, Dan, who operates Wendy's, with originating the idea of making biofuel from waste restaurant grease and oil for school busses.

The process of turning cooking oil into biofuel is simple, according to Key, formerly of Greenbush Merchantile.

"The trick is the filtering," Key said.

In the winter the glycerin in cooking oil gels into a wax-like substance that clogs engines. But a chemical compound can neutralize the glycerin and make the biofuel useful, Key said.

Several fast-food restaurants in Winfield use Darling International, a Dallas-based firm, to collect their waste grease and oil.

A source at Darling's Wichita operation, who did not want to be named, said the firm was now supplying some biofuel.

The eventual goal of fueling school busses may be a ways off, Torrence acknowledged. For starters, she said, the students may try to supply fuel for the pickup truck used at the bus barn.

When a class in entrenpreneurism was started at Arkansas City High School a few years ago, more than 100 students enrolled, instructor Mike Brooks said.