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22 comments on Cooking Oil to Biodiesel Programs in NYC
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A government official within the New York City government got in touch with me about 6 or 8 months ago and asked if I had any suggestions for how they might get involved in alternative energy. I said that the first thing I would do is to make sure that every drop of waste oil in the city is getting converted into biodiesel and not being sent to dumps. I am very pleased to read that this is being done. I think all waste cooking oil in the country should end up as biodiesel. You aren't going to run the country on it, but every little bit helps. And turning a waste product into a fuel kills two birds with one stone.
Robert,
In your best estimate, as I imagine you have already thought this out, how much could waste products (food waste, sewage, yard debris, agricultural byproducts etc) offset current energy needs? I agree when you say every drop should be captured. On campus here at UNICAMP in Brasil they sort all the recyclables then dump the food and paper trash into the ground. I printed out the methane digester article TOD had a couple days ago and gave it to the engineering department but they were not really enthusiastic.
Still have the footage from the Ethanol plant, just procrastinating on making something professional to go with it.
matt
"how much could waste products (food waste, sewage, yard debris, agricultural byproducts etc) offset current energy needs?"
That's why they're calling them BB's.. and I suspect they will be more highly 'respected BB's' as Our Daddy's ol' BunkerBusters get less and less reliable. As I'd say to Boof's initial remark upthread, anybody who is brewing up BioDiesel these days is likely NOT an advocate of keeping 800 million vehicles running, and that a major (implicit) aspect of their plan includes restructuring to vastly reduce our ICE dependency.
Bob Fiske
But it's tricky, because an unintentional result sometimes is the maintainence of the illusion that alternatives are all we need.
I just noticed we have a high number of Bobs and Robs at TOD. Anyway restructure yes. Solar panels on all roofs manage all wastestreams and when the wind blows catch it. I've been in brasil now for 6 months without a car depending on public transport and bikes. Two cab rides for my sick puppy but other than that a well managed system works. I wait a bit here and there for a bus but I always have a text or two with me. People talk about nonnegotiable lifestyles....1980's lifestyle is different than todays. Sheesh some guy puts a lightbright up in bean town and they lock down several million americans. Do we need 800 million vehicles? maybe yes maybe no. Do we need 800 million FF driven vehicles? No.....
Les' hear it for the Robs! I'm one more. "Strong of heart"--perfect for a peakster!
In your best estimate, as I imagine you have already thought this out, how much could waste products (food waste, sewage, yard debris, agricultural byproducts etc) offset current energy needs?
I did a calculation like this in my thesis. If I recall correctly, I think the gross was enough to replace our current liquid fossil fuel usage. But the net is the problem. The EROEI is currently not good enough. At present, it probably makes the most sense to burn the waste to produce electricity, but that poses problems of its own.
Still have the footage from the Ethanol plant, just procrastinating on making something professional to go with it.
Someone e-mailed me yesterday asking some specific questions about energy usage in sugarcane ethanol plants, and I told them you might be able to get them in touch with someone.
Wait a minute here, Robert you actually say that that the gross of waste products could replace our current liquid fossil fuel usage? Could you confirm this with some solid numbers?
I cannot believe that there is a daily stream of 3180000000 liters of waste fats in the US that could be transformed to biodiesel...
Please explain.
Roger From The Netherlands
Is it possible that they included the fat man behind the steering wheel.
Wait a minute here, Robert you actually say that that the gross of waste products could replace our current liquid fossil fuel usage?
Yes, but that’s all waste streams, not just waste oil. We have tremendous amounts of paper, forestry, and farm wastes that could potentially be turned into fuel. As I said, it is the net that is the problem.
Could you confirm this with some solid numbers?
No, because I am on a very transient Internet connection at the moment. I rarely stay connected for more than 5 minutes, and pages can take 5 minutes to load. Therefore, anything requiring research is problematic at the moment.
I cannot believe that there is a daily stream of 3180000000 liters of waste fats in the US that could be transformed to biodiesel...
Not all waste biomass is waste fat.
You gave them exactly the right advice.
If they ask you again, point them toward Changing World Technology's thermal conversion process (TCP) as a possible way of dealing with their non-recyclable plastic waste stream.