Can cooking oil be recycled into car fuel? Well, Waiheke Island trust in New Zealand is trying to make this a reality by having officially launched its own biodiesel production facility on the19th of September 2007.
This facility will be responsible for the recycling of cooking oil into first class fuel for various vehicles and machinery.
Initially, John Stansfield director of Cleanstream Ltd (a subsidiary of the Waste Resources Trust) was apprehensive of whether or not there will be enough cooking oil available from the island to recycle. But, a trial run put his fears to rest, as eight tonnes of cooking oil was collected in less than four months from takeaways and restaurants on Waiheke! Phew! That is a lot of oil indeed!
You must be wondering how it is possible to convert normal cooking oil into car fuel. First the cooking oil is warmed, then a catalyst is added to it, the liquid shaken up to separate the glycerol from the biodiesel which is then washed, decanted, and filtered to produce a high grade fuel.
For those who are not aware, biodiesel refers to a diesel-equivalent processed fuel derived from biological sources like vegetable oils. Not only is biodiesel biodegradable and non-toxic in nature, it also produces much less carbon dioxide as compared to normal fuels.
You know in some countries like Germany, biodiesel is actually cheaper than conventional fuel?
One hopes that gradually biodiesel will become the preferred choice of fuel for vehicles, because it is good for the environment and good for the car engine too!
