http://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/3807423-151/redmond-cooking-oil-collector-poised-to-benefit-from#
[image in on-line article]
Redmond cooking oil collector could benefit from state program
Go Bio collects used cooking oil from restaurants to be converted into
biodiesel.
By Ted Shorack / The Bulletin / @tjshorack
Published Dec 11, 2015 at 12:05AM / Updated Dec 11, 2015 at 05:56AM
Go Bio has collected about a half-million gallons of used vegetable
cooking oil in Central Oregon since 2008.
Jeff Rola, who started the Redmond-based business, predicts he’ll hit 1
million gallons in the next three years as Oregon begins to roll out its
latest standards attached to the Clean Fuels program that will go into
effect in January.
The program began in 2009 with House Bill 2186 and has gone through
different phases with a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions within
the state.
The standards adopted by the Environmental Quality Commission aim to
reduce the amount of carbon released from transportation fuels by 10
percent by 2025. The prescribed reduction will come in the form of oil
companies buying clean fuel credits to offset carbon emissions from the
fuel they sell or by selling biofuels with gas and diesel.
That could mean a boost in revenue for Go Bio if the market demand for
used cooking oil to produce biodiesel trickles down to the company.
The Clean Fuels program recognizes biodiesel, natural gas, electricity,
propane and ethanol as “clean fuels,” which release less carbon into the
atmosphere than gasoline and diesel.
“I hope that the program strengthens the price structure for used
cooking oil so I can get a higher price for it and pay a higher price to
the restaurants,” Rola said.
Go Bio pays for and collects cooking oil from about 200 businesses
throughout Central Oregon and then hauls the waste product to Salem
where Sequential Pacific Biodiesel turns it into a usable fuel for
diesel engines.
When Rola started the business seven years ago, he picked up barrels of
the used cooking oil in a pickup. He now has several trucks that run on
biodiesel and collect used vegetable oil from holding tanks at
restaurants. The volume of oil is higher at fast food restaurants.
Several larger companies collect used cooking oil in Central Oregon as
well. Rola said Go Bio is the only one based locally.
The current price for collected used cooking oil is the lowest it’s been
in five years, Rola said. The Clean Fuels program could change that
eventually.
“It should create a higher demand for used cooking oil especially for my
product,” he said.
The state program has instituted standards to reduce emissions based on
carbon-intensity values, a calculation of how much carbon is generated
by a particular transportation fuel.
Because used cooking oil is essentially waste, its carbon footprint will
already be accounted for in the system, Rola said. In contrast, soybean
and corn production for biofuels has less of an offset value because of
the fuel used in the process to make it a finished product.
The Legislature passed Senate Bill 324 earlier this year adding to the
program and giving direction to the commission. The bill was signed by
Gov. Kate Brown in March.
The program has been attacked by the oil and trucking industry.
Opposition groups filed a lawsuit challenging the standards. A U.S.
District judge dismissed the case in September.
Three ballot initiatives could also threaten the program’s current
structure if the measures are brought to voters in the November 2016
election and approved.
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