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Posts Tagged ‘Waste Vegetable Oil’

Dr. Steven Chu, distinguished scientist and co-winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics (1997), was appointed by President Obama as the 12th Secretary of Energy and sworn into office on Jan 21, 2009. He is charged with helping implement President Obama’s ambitious agenda to invest in substitute and renewable energy, end our addiction to foreign oil, address the global climate crisis and create millions of new jobs, a very large task indeed.

In 2004, the United States consumed 20.7 million barrels of petroleum products per day (about 7.5 billion barrels per year). A barrel contains 42 gallons, so total petroleum consumption in 2004 was about 318 billion gallons. Roughly 60% (~190 billion gallons) of petroleum consumed was imported, with about 13% (~40 billion gallons) coming from Persian Gulf countries. The United States primarily imports crude oil but also imports petroleum products including completed motor gasoline, aviation fuel, and fuel oil. The United States Says imported about 15 billion gallons of completed motor gasoline and gasoline-blending components in 2004. (Source: Annual Energy Outlook 2006 from the Energy Information Administration).

Biofuels are liquid, solid, or gaseous fuels derived from renewable biological sources. The biomass can be burned directly for thermal energy or converted to other high-value energy sources including ethanol, biodiesel, methanol, hydrogen, or methane. Currently, ethanol from corn grain and biodiesel are the only biofuels produced in the United States on an industrial scale.  Current biodiesel in the United States in prefabricated from used cooking oil, yellow grease, waste vegetable oil and animal fats.

Most of the 4 billion gallons of ethanol produced in 2005 came from 13% of the U.S. corn crops thus igniting the food vs. fuel debate. This was an increase from the 3.4 billion gallons produced in 2004. Ethanol is widely used as a fuel additive. The oxygen contained in ethanol improves gasoline combustibility. E10 & E85 blends are acquirable from gas stations all over the United States Say this fuel is widely acquirable in corn-producing states. E85 can be used as a substitute for gasoline in cars that have been altered to use this biofuel.

Biodiesel is a biologically derived diesel fuel substitute created by chemically reacting vegetable oils or animal fats with alcohol. Most biodiesel in the United States comes from soybean oil or restaurant greases. Biodiesel is readily used by cars with diesel engines. In 2005, about 75 million gallons of biodiesel were produced, tripling the 25 million gallons produced in 2004.

Creating a minimum blend stipulation for the United States the biodiesel biofuels industry will help accomplish the goals of substitute and renewable energy expansion, place a halt on our addiction to foreign oil, reduce the effects of the global climate crisis and create millions of new jobs.
Substitute energy research does not stop with Algae or Jatropha, other plants such as the cassava and the Honge tree from India are alternatives for renewable green fuel feedstock sources. The research in these areas will help end our addiction to foreign oil, reduce harmful emissions by introducing green renewable fuel alternatives. Jobs will be created for agricultural research, farmers and renewable fuel industries from fuels home grown in the USA.

70CentsaGallon Inc. a Florida Biofuels technology company has started a petition for submittal to the new Secretary of Energy. They hope this petition will help secure America’s future prosperity for our future generations through a biofuel mandate. They only ask for your support of the petition for a minimum blend for bio-diesel in the USA. The petition is being hosted online at GoPetition.com and you can reach this particular petition at this link http://gopetition.com/online/29302.html

The new ASTM D6751 Cold Soak Filtration test left many biodiesel producers and consumers out in the cold. In response, Schroeder Biofuels brought Cold Clear to the market, a new proprietary multi-stage separation technology designed specifically to ensure that biodiesel products conform to the new ASTM standard for cold flow properties.

Well here is the latest update on product use. WVO Feedstock is now being cleaned with the Cold Clear system. That’s right! it is also used to filter waste vegetable oil before biodiesel processing begins.

-          Degumming

-          Free Fatty Acid Treatment

Instead of Acid Esterification the Cold Clear units are a suitable alternative to acid Esterification & FFA Treatment. This filtration system is saving time and money for biodiesel biofuel producers.

The Cold Clear TM system consists of a three-stage bank of housings using a combination of filtration and adsorption principles to capture compounds that could cause plugging or crystallization in biodiesel fluids and also yellow grease. Notably, Cold Clear TM is the premiere multi-stage treatment system for cold soak filtration & now waste vegetable oil feedstock for biodiesel production.

As biofuel and biodiesel fuel energy gain popularity around the world we are seeing new tactics in the biodiesel biofuel Feedstock game to keep up with green fuel production.

Let’s look at the current feedstock oils that dominate the biofuels Industry:

Palm Oil, Soybean Oil, Jatropha Oil, Sunflower Oil, Canola Oil, Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO), Used Cooking Oil (UCO), Animal Fat, Yellow Grease and Honge Oil

Are all currently used to produce clean renewable energy.

Let’s face it, in the United States Restaurant owner operators are now wise to the renewable energy game and have begun to charge biofuel producers for the waste vegetable oil they have to offer. The National Renderers Association (NRA) has an international members list over 132 members strong with the majority of them located in the USA. Large companies like Griffin Industries Inc. have far reaching service contracts with restaurants and factories that produce waste oils. These oils are then resold for as much as $3.50 USD per gallon for use as ingredients to Organic fertilizer, specialty proteins, flavor enhancers and biodiesel biofuels.

Some biodiesel innovators in this game have come up with unique practices to overcome this lack of supply and high demand for the yellow grease needed for biofuel production. Some are actually contracting with farmers to grow and produce the virgin oil for them, some biofuel entrepreneurs are selling the oil from the farmers to restaurateurs at discounted prices with contracts stating the virgin oil provider will receive the oil again, once the restaurant owner has used the vegetable oil to completion.

The game may have changed once again when restaurant owners see the new energy system that utilizes waste vegetable oil to power their utility needs. You actually can have a utility cost savings and reduce your carbon foot print. This power system turns your facilities waste vegetable oil and grease into electricity and hot water for your restaurant and makes your used cooking oil worth $2.55 per gallon, not the 10 to 25 cents restaurants might be selling it for currently – or the cost of having it hauled away. The system also provides additional revenue through renewable energy credits and carbon credit trading, or LEED credits toward Green Building Certification.

Some biofuel innovators have gone overseas to purchase feedstock oils from Malaysia, South America or Nigeria Africa to get the most oil for the least expensive price. The key to the game is to control your feedstock oil price, but the game is becoming more difficult for those without a solid game plan for vegetable oil feedstock control.