|
November
2007
GREASE
TO GOLD
Finding Fuel Down the Drain
by
Frances Cerra Whittelsey
In a
small building in an industrial neighborhood in Bohemia,
a remarkable transformation takes place every day. Trap
grease, the ugly sludge left behind when restaurant wash
water goes down the drain, is put through filters, high-speed
centrifuges, and treated with catalysts. It emerges as
biodiesel, the non-petroleum equivalent of ordinary diesel
fuel that cuts greenhouse gases and can be used in existing
diesel engines without modifying them.
The facility,
run by North American Biofuels Company, Inc., is the first
on Long island to make transportation fuel, a development
that may portend a new energy future of fuel production
based on locally available waste resources. It is also
the first in the country to successfully make fuel from
trap grease, which, unlike used fryer oil, was thought
to be unusable because of its large water content and contamination
with everything from coffee stirrers to strings from floor
mops.
Last
summer, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy attended a
ribbon-cutting ceremony inaugurating the start-up of the
facility by North American, which soon began producing
1,000 to 2,000 gallons of biodiesel a day. Now the company
is seeking land on Long Island to build a factory that
will make 10 to 15 million gallons a year, according to
C. David Butler, North American's chief executive.
It was
Butler who recognized the potential of trap grease. The
Oyster Bay resident began looking for a business opportunity
in alternative energy in 2004, he says, considering and
then rejecting wind, solar, geothermal and other liquid
fuels. Then he saw a newspaper article about trap grease
and decided "to apply (my) skills to the problem." Butler,
whose colleagues refer to him only half-jokingly as "the
genius" and who has only associate degrees in chemical
and mechanical engineering, figured out a way to process
trap grease for which he now has patents.
What
made trap grease attractive is that North American gets
it free. Gary Weiner, president of Rusell Reid, a regional
hauler of non-hazardous wastes, says neither sewage treatment
plants nor landfills on Long Island will accept trap grease. "Giving
the trap grease to North American is “a saving to
us, absolutely," said Weiner, because the company
does not then have to truck the grease away. In a partnership
with North American, Russell Reid has also provided space
for the start-up facility at its compound in Bohemia.
Disposal
of trap grease is a major problem for municipalities everywhere
because it literally gums up sewage pipes and causes fires,
among other problems.
North
American sells the biodiesel it produces locally. Among
its customers is Burt's Reliable, a heating oil dealer
based in Southold. Home heating oil is the same as diesel
fuel. "This is fabulous," said John Romanelli,
owner of Burt's, referring to North American's operations."By
using trap grease they are solving a waste stream problem
and producing fuel." Romanelli says his company sells
home heating oil to its customers with 5 percent of biodiesel
mixed in at no additional cost and without causing any
problems to their heating systems.
Production
and use of biodiesel instead of petroleum diesel cuts emissions
of carbon dioxide by 78.5%, according to the U.S. Department
of Energy. It also cuts emissions of particulate matter
implicated in asthma as well as other pollutants including
sulfur and carbon monoxide.
How much
fuel could be made from trap grease on Long Island and
the New York Metro area is not known exactly. One estimate
says restaurants in New York City alone produce 60 million
gallons a year of it. An unknown quantity is disposed of
illegally as food service companies try to avoid paying
between 25 and 35 cents a gallon to have it hauled away.
North
American also uses used cooking oil, known as yellow grease,
to make biodiesel.
All together,
the potential is huge. "Other biofuel producers use
corn or virgin oils like soybean," said Alan Ellenbogen,
vice president for business development at North American. "Instead,
we farm the urban landscape."
© 2008
NETWORKING® MAGAZINE
2020 GUIDE TO GOING GREEN
|
