HAMLIN -- With diesel prices in West Virginia nearing $5 a gallon and some analysts predicting it may hit $6 within a year, public school districts across the state are digging deep into their purses every time they fill the tanks of their school buses.

One school in Lincoln County may have come up with a solution: It is making its own diesel fuel.

The Lincoln County High School Future Farmers of America club has started the first biodiesel production center at a public school in the state. Looking a little like the makings of a mad scientist's laboratory with its large tanks and rubber tubes, the students' equipment has the capacity of producing 400 gallons of biodiesel a week at a cost of about $1 per gallon.

The fuel will be used to power a school bus, saving the school district an estimated $32,000 its first year alone. But more importantly, it will give Lincoln County students a jumpstart in a technology that may turn out to be very profitable in the near future.

"It opens the door to a whole new world," Lincoln County FFA president Katelyn Brogan, 17, said. "You learn so much more from it: How to recycle properly, how to renew your fuels, how to save money and time."

Brogan isn't planning on going into the biofuels industry after graduation; instead she wants to study forensics. But she said the group's work with biodiesel is laying the foundation for biofuel training at the school.

"We are trying to prepare our students earlier and sooner ... so they won't go straight into college and go 'Oh my gosh, I have no idea what I'm doing,'" she said.

The school launched its new biofuels program June 13 with a visit by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and state Superintendent of Schools Steven Paine. Students demonstrated how biodiesel was made, and Rockefeller helped pump the first gallon of biodiesel into a waiting school bus.

Biodiesel is diesel fuel made from organic ingredients such as vegetable oils, waste cooking oils and animal fats. High school agriculture teacher Ryan Saxe said the inspiration for the biodiesel center came from the strain that fuel prices are having on American families and calls from political leaders for the nation to change its energy policies.

"When you see your political leaders initiating change and setting goals, it is only natural we are going to have to have a skilled work force in that industry," he said. "I thought it would be great to have a little program to teach students about it, and as I started researching for money, I noticed there are no schools out there preparing these students."

The equipment students used to create biofuel cost about $20,000 and was purchased from Woodleaf Biodiesel Innovations of Woodleaf, N.C.

The school's biofuels program has received funding from the state Department of Education and the state Department of Agriculture.

However, the creation of the biodiesel center is only the first of what Saxe said would be three phases in the program. The second phase will consist of students growing crops used to make biofuel, such as corn, switch grass, soybeans, canola and sunflowers. The third phase will be to grow and harvest algae to turn into biodiesel, which has the potential of producing the equivalent of 100,000 gallons a year in oil per acre.

Saxe said the school will need $140,000 to fully implement the program, and is working with Rockefeller's office to explore other funding opportunities. The school also is hoping private businesses will provide funding.

Biodiesel enjoys several environmental advantages over petroleum-based diesel, according to literature provided by Saxe. It emits 100 percent less sulfur dioxide, a major component of acid rain, and 80 to 100 percent less carbon dioxide. It also reduces smoke particulates -- small bits of suspended solid matter floating in smoke -- by up to 75 percent.

Biodiesel breaks down quickly and doesn't require major cleanup if spilled. And the fuel is safer to handle and transport. It has a higher flash point than traditional petroleum, meaning it doesn't burn as easily. To demonstrate, Saxe dipped a burning napkin to a jar of biodiesel -- the fire went out as if dipped into water.

FFA student Heather Hild, 17, said she has learned a lot about biodiesel that she didn't know about it before. While she probably won't pursue biodiesel production as a career, she has already spoken to her mother about the possibility of making biodiesel to fuel their vehicles.

"It is really interesting to do," she said. "You learn a great deal."