Our fossil fuel dependence cannot last forever. Looming fuel shortages will eventually bring alternative technologies and adaptive, low-energy methods of living to our region. Throughout the years, Americans have conceived some alternatives to fossil fuels. Only recently has a good portion of this effort been for the sake of fueling car engines.
One alternative of recent debate is the concept of fueling our automobiles with our own food. Everything from corn to sugar cane to soybean oil is currently being tried, tested and encouraged by several (including America's) governing regimes.
In contrast to those listed above, I've come to appreciate the idea of fuels that are not a source of food for people and do not require vast land conversion. Among promising alternatives are plants such as algae, corn stover (the parts of corn plants left over after the ears are harvested), various grasses and wastes such as animal fat and waste cooking oil.
Some of these alternatives currently use more energy (in the form of fossil fuels) in their production than the energy they can yield. Virtually everything produced in America runs on a fossil fuel economy. In time, production will hopefully become less expensive as technology improves.
One potential exception with current implications is waste cooking oil and animal fat, sources of making what is known as 'biodiesel'.
Biodiesel is promoted as a clean burning alternative fuel. BXXX biodiesel refers to how much percentage of non-petroleum energy is in the fuel blend itself. For example, 'B20' is a blended fuel of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petrodiesel. Most biodiesel fuels that are sold in the U.S. market are soybean oil based.
On top of using less fossil fuel, other environmental benefits of biodiesel include substantial reductions of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and particulate matter. Biodiesel also contains no sulfur or aromatics. However, nitrogen-oxide emissions are slightly higher than regular diesel gasoline.
If these benefits give you the idea to empty your cast-iron fryer from tonight's dinner and saving the used oil to fuel your diesel truck, think again. Raw waste cooking oil or other derivatives are usually hard to meet American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards and have to be synthetized with a catalyst, mixed, washed, filtered and tested to be fuel-ready. Reco Biotechnology, located in Richmond, is one company that can demonstrate this.
Reco's Biodiesel facility ran their first batch and opened their biodiesel operations in late 2006. They originally used soybean oil for biodiesel production; however, they started using waste chicken fat this past spring. This is the better choice than risking a "food to fuel" and/or "land conversion" debate.
I visited Bob Caudle, operations manager of Reco's biodiesel operation and he showed me the entire process from start to finish. In doing so, Caudle pointed out that four of the large tanks that hold thousands of gallons are made from recycled scrap metal. He also stated that the company's suppliers and customers are all regional, mostly in Virginia and North Carolina.
"We usually buy 6,000 gallons of chicken fat and can yield 5,500 gallons of biodiesel," Caudle said.
One important aspect of Reco's operation is that all the energy used to produce the biodiesel is recycled fuel from their water treatment plant on-site. This is a significant step in lessening the environmental footprint of their fuel generation process.
Ukrop's Super Markets is jumping on the bandwagon and has recently chosen to collect the waste cooking oil from their chicken cookers in large collection bins in 11 area stores. Ukrop's will hopefully have Reco generate biodiesel from their waste oil.
Caudle says that Reco has collected about 800 gallons from Ukrop's over the past several weeks. "Once we get 3,000 gallons we are going to run a test batch to generate B100 biodiesel."
Ukrop's plans to run their trucks and refrigerated trailers on a blend of biodiesel produced from their own waste cooking oil (provided by Reco) and petroleum diesel; it's projected to be B15 blend.
Waste to fuel is very close to what is known as a closed loop system. The idea of a closed loop means that as energy travels in it is used totally within the ecosystem without significant waste products. As Reco buys waste that would normally end up somewhere unpleasant, we can see that every bit of the energy source is put to good use, without significant leftovers.
The amount of waste energy (in the form of emissions, heat, etc.) should also be significantly less than the amount of energy input for it to be considered a closed loop. With this operation we reduce the environmental impacts of our actions and contribute to the sustainability of our ecosystem.
It is hard to weigh the possible sources of energy used in biodiesel production. However, I'm confident that the transport and production costs of Reco's operation are more efficient than that of general "crude oil to gasoline" processes.
Animal fat, waste cooking oil and other non-food to fuel production is already happening in many places, and will grow. It can be cost efficient, environmentally friendly and a no-hassle procedure for farmers, restaurants and food businesses.
David Martin is an environmental consultant in Richmond. He has maintained a devoted study in environmental issues since his early teens, when his sister would kidnap him from home and take him to Blacksburg to appreciate Geology, go hiking and tube the New River. David recently fled the country of Ghana because he received too many marriage proposals.