ST. GEORGE — Dixie State University’s lecture series “Dixie Forum: A Window on the World” will host its next installment when alternative fuel expert Cliff Ricketts presents “Running Engines Off the Sun, Hydrogen from Water, and Several Other Alternative Fuels.”

Running vehicles on methane from cow manure or soybeans and other crops may sound a bit futuristic, but Ricketts is currently having success with such alternative fuels.

Ricketts will present  from noon to 12:50 p.m. on Tuesday in the Dunford Auditorium in the Browning Resource Center on the Dixie State campus. Admission is free and the public is encouraged to attend.

A professor of agricultural education at Middle Tennessee State University since 1976, Ricketts, with the help of his students, has developed and adapted vehicles to run on everything from ethanol, methane from cow manure and soybeans to solar electricity and hydrogen. With more than 30 years of experience in the field, he is considered a pioneer in alternative fuel.

Ricketts has driven from coast to coast of the U.S. on only 2.15 gallons of gasoline and has taken another cross-country trip powered solely on hydrogen from water separated by a solar operated electrolysis unit. Additionally, he has traveled from Bristol, Va., to West Memphis, Ark., purely on solar power.

Some highlights of his career are presenting on ethanol at the 1982 World’s Fair, testifying before Congress on flex-fuel hybrid plug-in vehicles, exhibiting his work at the Smithsonian and holding the world land speed record for a hydrogen-fueled vehicle at the Bonneville Salt Flats for more than 15 years. In addition to these accomplishments, Ricketts has written five textbooks and delivered nearly 1,000 presentations.

Dixie Forum is a weekly lecture series designed to introduce the St. George community and Dixie State students, faculty and staff to diverse ideas and personalities while widening their worldviews via a 50-minute presentation. Dixie Forum will continue at noon on Tuesday, April 19, in the Dunford Auditorium with a presentation from Dixie State Sustainability Advisor Tracey O’Kelly and members of the Sustainability Committee and Sustainability Club in celebration of Earth Day.

Event details

• What: Dixie Forum presentation Running Engines Off the Sun, Hydrogen from Water, and Several Other Alternative Fuels by Cliff Ricketts
• When: Tuesday, April 12, from noon to 12:50 p.m.
• Where: Dunford Auditorium in the Browning Resource Center on the Dixie State campus
• Admission is free, and the event is open to the public

Resources

• Dixie Forum series coordinator John Burns: Telephone 435-879-4712 | Email [email protected]
• Dixie Forum online:  Web page | Facebook page | Twitter @dixieforum

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews