Waste Cooking Oil Prepared by The Food Club’s Technical Department What Happens to Waste Cooking Oil? As a country we use well in excess of 10,000 tonnes of cooking oil every week. Most of us know that we can’t use it repeatedly for frying since the quality of our food is adversely affected. If we pour the used oil away it solidifies and blocks the drain and it is also illegal to do this. So how do the big boys get rid of their waste oil? It can’t be sent to landfill and, since it is now listed as a waste substance, it has to disposed off via a licensed collector. Several companies collect used oil from fish and chips shops, pubs, restaurants, cafes, fast-food outlets as well as food manufacturers. 90% of this oil was incorporated back into animal feed. However, the EU has banned its use for feeding pigs, as a result of several food scares in the vegetable oil and other food sectors, and the EU may also ban its use for feeding cattle too. The oil did have some value but now collectors are charging to remove it. A serious problem was arising but help may be at hand. Fuel from Waste Cooking Oil Cooking oil is usually a vegetable oil and, whether it is waste or ‘virgin oil’, it can be converted into diesel fuel. Several European countries have being doing this for years with Germany leading the field - conversion is fairly simple. A knowledge of basic chemistry is sufficient to produce it but the skill comes in knowing how to remove the by-products, such as glycerine, and then finding a market for them. Rudolph Diesel developed the original diesel engine in the 1890’s and first showed it at the Paris Exposition in 1900. He intended it to run on oils produced from a variety of vegetable oils, and even animal fat, because he felt that supplies of fossil diesel to farmers could not be guaranteed. However, the cost of production was greater than the price of fossil diesel. With two litres of diesel produced for every litre of petrol there was no shortage. However, 100 years later the World’s oil reserves are now running out as both developing and developed countries use more fuel. Other countries such as the US, Canada and Brazil are investing heavily in the Biodiesel sector and French diesel now contains 5% of biodiesel. As we move into the 21st Century perhaps the cycle is turning in Rudolph’s favour. A Cleaner, Renewable Fuel Biodiesel is described as a 'renewable fuel' or as being ‘CO2 neutral’ because it does not add any extra carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is produced, when the fuel is burnt, but it is absorbed by the next season’s vegetable oil producing crops such as rape; soybean; sunflower; peanut; cotton; palm and many others. It is a cleaner burn than ‘fossil’ diesel and can be used 100% in many modern diesel powered vehicles. It is also one of the more environmentally friendly fuels because it has a minimal effect on global warming and has a lower emissions output than fossil diesel with little or no loss of power or economy. It contains no sulphur so sulphur dioxide is not produced, the production of nitrous oxides is 20% lower as is carbon monoxide and there are also very positive claims of 50%+ particulate matter reduction in the smoke. Current Availability Supplies in the UK are not readily available but we can expect to see more Biodiesel pumps in the very near future. Duty on vegetable oil based fuels was recently reduced by 20p per litre making it just marginally cheaper at the pumps than fossil diesel. A whole new industry in the UK is coming to life. For More Information try visiting:- www.biodiesel.orgwww.journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Waste Cooking Oil.Nov2002 |
