Sam Merrett

Sam graduated in 2005 with honors from Oberlin College with a BA in Environmental Studies. Much of his time in college was dedicated to learning about biofuels and starting local biofuel initiatives. He was first introduced to vegetable oil based fuels on a field trip his sophomore year of College, fall 2002. Intrigued by the idea of creating fuel from waste Sam spent the winter of 2003, along with two other students, building a biodiesel processor at Hampshire College with a small research grant.

After successfully creating this processor in Massachusetts, Sam returned to Oberlin eager to start something local. Sam founded Biodiesel Oberlin (BO), a group comprised of Oberlin College Students, Staff, Professors, and Oberlin community members dedicated to raising availability and awareness of biofuels in Lorain County. In the spring of 2003 Sam received an American Public Power Association Scholarship to research using biodiesel in generators at Oberlin Municipal Light and Power Service and worked with a team of students and professors to apply for funding from the EPA's People Prosperity and the Planet Sustainability Challenge. In the summer of 2004 he expanded his biofuel experience by converting his 1998 VW Jetta to SVO.

In the fall of 2004 the BO team received the EPA funding to build and run production tests for a community-scale biodiesel production method. Sam spearheaded the BO team that fabricated a mobile (installed in a race-car trailer), off-the-grid (solar and bike-powered), and educational biodiesel processor. Their processor not only recycled a local waste product to power local equipment (including a bobcat skidsteer, a woodmizer mill, a couple pick-up trucks and a fuel oil furnace) but it also was used to educate college students, community members, and children at the Oberlin Public Schools about renewable and alternative energy sources.

Two months before graduation Sam received a Compton Mentor Fellowship to create a biofuel resource center in Oberlin, called Full Circle Fuels. This space is a unique non-profit /for-profit collaboration currently performing several services: offering sale of general energy efficiency supplies, running a shop where SVO conversions and regular automotive repair takes place, and serving as a hub for energy-related educational initiatives. By the summer of 2006 Full Circle Fuels plans to begin retail sales of various biodiesel blends and ethanol (E85) at the pump and run a biodiesel production coop using the bike-powered processor. Our shop is located downtown at 141 South Main Street, the previous site of an abandoned service station. Sam has already converted over thirty vehicles, given over a dozen public talks explaining biodiesel and SVO, and taught public conversion workshops in NE Ohio and co-taught along with Charlie Anderson in New Mexico.

Robert Beckett

Bob brings 15 years of automotive experience to the Full Circle Fuels Station. He is truly multitalented, he just completed a 1000 sq ft addition to his house, worked as a heavy equipment operator in Las Vegas, and when it comes to cars he is capable of fixing anything and will work on all aspects of vehicle repair except tires- as is evident from his old business card "If I can't fix it you should junk it". His experience ranges from trouble shooting multiplex electrical problems to building custom hot rods. He has also done many restorations including a 1909 model T and a 1931 model A. He has been professionally trained through both Ford Motor Company and GM College of Automotive Industries. "I have been self employed for the last five years and enjoyed every minute of it. Yet, I have always enjoyed auto technologies and the possibilities of future creations and alternate power sources. That is where Sam and full circle fuels come into play. I will be working with Full Circle Fuels installing SVO conversion kits and with ODI to implement a low income auto self help clinic."
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