S.F. restaurant grease finds new use San Francisco yesterday launched SFGreasecycle, a free program in which the city will pick up used cooking oil and grease from local restaurants, hotels and other commercial food preparation establishments and turn it into biodiesel.
The program, sponsored by the city's Public Utilities Commission, aims to recycle grease products in homes with the intention of someday using the locally produced biodiesel to power all city vehicles. "This is a case of taking what could be a bad situation and turning it into a win," said Susan Leal, general manager of the PUC. SFGreasecycle complements Mayor Gavin Newsom's mandate that all of the city's diesel vehicles use a diesel mixture that is 20 percent biodiesel by the end of this year (Charles Burress, San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 20). Used cooking oil also a hot commodity in Portland, Ore. Restaurants that used to pay to have their used cooking oil picked up are now charging hefty fees as demand for biodiesel increases. Tyson Keever, co-founder of Sequential Pacific Biofuels, Oregon's largest biodiesel manufacturer, said about 20 percent of recycled cooking oil is now going to biofuels. In Portland, collectors are fighting over grease worth as much as $1.20 per gallon. Used cooking oil is the cheapest and most sustainable way to make biodiesel because it does not use any new resources, according to a new biofuels report by the Oregon Environmental Council. But because supply is limited -- each person in the state contributes about a gallon of used cooking oil a year to the grease market, according to Sequential Pacific -- the price is rising. "It's going to drive the cost of biodiesel sky-high," said Loren Fennell, founder of the Alternative Energy Coalition, who collected used oil for years before quitting because of the increased competition (Libby Tucker, AP/Statesman Journal, Nov. 18). French pig manure project faces hurdles The French region of Le Mene is engaged in a $21.9 million biofuel project known as Geotexia that will convert 35,000 tons of pig manure and 40,000 tons of agricultural refuse each year. The project first converts manure into methane gas for Electricte de France SA, the country's biggest electricity company, and then into desiccated fertilizer. Dominique Rocaboy, a farmer in the region, is leading a 10-year crusade to use the area's large number of pigs -- and therefore manure -- into an asset. "I am the first to admit that we have too many pigs and too much manure," he said. Drinking water in his town is unsafe for pregnant women and infants because of high levels of nitrate, caused by the pig waste. But the project has met with delays, partly because of France's bureaucracy and dependence on nuclear plants. Geotexia is part of a larger energy plan for Le Mene that includes a wood-burning heating system, a factory to turn rapeseed oil into tractor fuel and a windmill project (Celestine Bohlen, Bloomberg, Nov. 19). -- SG _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
