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Fuel your car with french fries
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by michelle.sundvick | June 23, 2008 at 10:18 am
905 views | 50 Recommendations | 11 comments
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As we've seen gas prices soar over the past couple of months, people are willing to do anything to cut fuel costs. A band of biofuel enthusiasts in the states have taken to robbing restaurants of their used french-fry grease in order to produce their own fuel at a low cost. Although this may be cheaper for small-level production, producing the biodiesel in mass amounts has always been considered quite costly in the past (about $1 a litre to produce). For this reason Canadians have been unable to buy biodiesel at the pump for some time.
However, with fuel prices on the rise, biodiesel is now comparable to other fuel, resting around $1.45 per litre. As there is now little difference in price, and biodiesel is more eco-friendly, gas stations across Canada are eager to offer this choice to their consumers. A station in the Lower Mainland became the first to offer the new biofuel over the weekend.
Cars fuelled with french-fry grease are growing increasingly common thanks to a Vancouver co-op offering biodiesel at its pumps.
Over the weekend Recycling Alternatives became first in the Lower Mainland to sell B100, an unblended fuel made entirely of biological waste such as tallow and yellow grease, to its diesel-engine driving members.
Aside from kicking down carbon footprints, said biodiesel manager Jean-Michel Toriel, the benefits can be felt most in the pocketbook because B100 is exempt from the B.C. gas tax set to take effect July 1.
Members of the co-op sign an agreement and pay $25 up front to access the self-serve system.
Users are billed for the amount of biodiesel consumed with prices hovering around $1.45 per litre.
"As we put more biodiesel on line I think the cost will start to diminish," Toriel said.
Still, Toriel said fast foods fats aren't the answer to increasing energy needs.
"This is more of a transition ... to electric cars," he said. "We're filling a void because the big oil companies are asleep at the wheel on this one."
Here's a link to a story I posted last month on the rising battle for french-fry grease:
http://www.nowpublic.com/environment/battling-over-french-fry-grease
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (11)
at 10:42 on June 23rd, 2008
Great idea.
at 10:43 on June 23rd, 2008
michelle.sundvick, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 11:12 on June 23rd, 2008
michelle.sundvick, I like this story. It's good stuff. Neat!
at 12:44 on June 23rd, 2008
go go greasoline.
at 13:09 on June 23rd, 2008
These are truffled fries, which would make your car smell delicious AND expensive. Yum.
maceelaine has contributed a photo to this story.
at 14:08 on June 23rd, 2008
michelle.sundvick, I like this story. It's good stuff. reminds me of the simpsons where bart and homer was stealing grease(oil) from the school. ANYWAYS. interesting story
at 14:59 on June 23rd, 2008
michelle.suncvick, this is really a great idea.
at 17:21 on June 23rd, 2008
I don't think it's just french fry grease....used cooking oil (vegetable) is a good substitute for diesel at no (in some cases) cost to the consumer. Anyhoo, good stuff!
at 18:07 on June 23rd, 2008
michelle.sundvick, I like this story. It's good stuff. What if your on a diet? Would that not drive one crazy?
Good story
at 15:56 on October 13th, 2008
Good article, but there is one thing that needs a correction. Canadians have been able to purchase Biodiesel at the pumps (especially in the lower mainland) for some time. Two companies that have offered Biodiesel at the pumps for a number of years are United Petroleum Products and Cascadia Biofuels.
Both companies meet the highest industry standards for auto manufacturers in regards to warranties with Biodiesel.
A great place to find more information on Biodiesel and where to obtain some for personal use or business use is Biofleet.net.
Cheers on a great article!
at 14:03 on August 11th, 2009
We have started our own brown grease recycling program using waste from our environmental services division. For years our waste from grease trap pumping has gone to the landfill but after a lot of tinkering (and too much money) we are starting to get a handle on production and are successfully selling our cleaned product to refiners for biofuel production. We are keeping a lot of waste out of the landfill and are encouraged by our progress!