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Dec 9 2006 |
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By Nick Whitten, The Evening Chronicle |
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He happily admits he's hopeless at school - but Steven Henderson is Tyneside's very own oil baron. Northumberland's answer to JR Ewing has built his own oil refinery in the shed at his home in Stamfordham Road, Eachwick, near Ponteland, which he uses to produce 1,000 litres of bio-diesel a week. He collects waste cooking oil from pubs and restaurants and each weekend he processes it into environmentally-friendly bio-diesel. It is then used by his dad to power his farm's tractors and vans saving him around £300 a week. Steven said: "This all came about after I was reading about climate change and rising oil prices and became worried. "I decided to build a small bio-diesel refinery. Bio-diesel is a natural and harmless fuel to the planet. One day I would like to build a really large plant. "I get really pleased when I see my refinery. It makes me feel very proud." Steven is the youngest person in Britain to hold a waste carriers licence from the Environment Agency. And he's scooped a host of awards including the Young Engineer for Britain award, and the Chronicle's Young Achievers Technology award. Now he also runs his own tax registered company called S-Plant. His dad Roy, 48, said: "From a very early age he has always been talented. "He dug the foundations for our house when he was about 11 and he built a pond in a nearby empty field when he was 12. "Then one day he came to me and said he was interested in making bio-fuel. I got him a book on the subject and it seemed like his head was buried in the book every moment of the day. "He talked me into buying some parts and he set about making the fuel. He made several mistakes, but eventually he cracked it. To make bio-diesel, the waste oil has to be heated to 50C which can be a problem. "Steven went away a bought loads of old radiators and with some tinkering and modifications he can now heat 8,000 litres of cold oil to 50C in just three hours. "It is very clever. He is lucky in that he has the assets to work with here. But he has the drive to go forward. "The by-product of bio-diesel is glycerin and Steven is now looking at using that to power a steam generator which will provide heat and electricity for our house. If he gets it going he will be my hero." He added: "He has a younger brother called Shaun who wants to play for Newcastle United, but Steven wants to own the club. That shows the difference in his mentality." The Ponteland High School pupil openly admits to struggling academically but the school's gifted and talented co-ordinator Stacy Boyes said: "Everyone is over the moon for Steven. The staff and pupils are very happy for him." |
