The NRMA has held a weekend youth summit to teach the leaders of tomorrow about the importance of sustainable transport today.

The NRMA’s Youth Eco Summit was on at the Sydney Olympic Park. The event showed students how far technologies have come toward improved standards. The exhibit featured a comparison of a Morris J-Van from the 1950s with a modern era super-green electric vehicle.

NRMA employed a classic method to keep kids learning - rewarding correct answers with prizes from a chocolate wheel.

Students from a number of schools took part in a race to build solar powered toys – though some reports said the real winner was the instruction manual.

Students from Gresford Public School took out the Summit’s other prize - the NRMA Sustainable Transport Competition.

The Gresford students won the day with their Poo Power project, showing an innovative way to use dung from farms and dairies to produce biogas for use in the livestock transport industry.

“Our students designed a bioreactor in which cow dung washings from trucks or dairy floors is fermented by anaerobic bacteria to produce methane for use as a biofuel,” said Gresford principal Pauline Mitchell.

“The basic technology is relatively simple and inexpensive.”

NRMA President Wendy Machin was blown away by the students’ efforts.

“I think the Gresford Public School’s idea was fantastic! I own a cattle farm and I know that using cow dung to produce biogas is a great way to develop alternative fuel and use a waste product – it helps the environment and means we are less reliant on oil,” Ms Machin said.

The Gresford School has received a special science visit from Fizzics Education, and other prizes including a free excursion and video conference from Sydney Olympic Park.