Omaha co-op turns used oil from fish fries, restaurants into motor fuel
Last edited Sun Mar 29, 2015, 02:17 PM - Edit history (1)
X post in environment-Energy
MATT MILLER/THE WORLD-HERALD
Eric Williams, co-founder and president of the Omaha Biofuels Cooperative, with the finished motor fuel, left, and unfiltered oil. At a production facility in South Omaha, used cooking oil gathered from area church fish fries and restaurants is cleaned up and made suitable for use in powering the motor vehicles owned by the co-op members.
http://www.omaha.com/money/omaha-co-op-turns-used-oil-from-fish-fries-restaurants/article_7105cf7b-60e3-5c61-aad9-00aead95fa5a.html
POSTED: THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2015 1:00 AM
By Russell Hubbard / World-Herald staff writer
Pat Rupp runs the fish fries at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Gretna, and found himself with a 300-gallon problem.
The church puts on six fish fries a year, a major fundraising effort. Rupp, a Knights of Columbus volunteer, said he and his kitchen crew often serve 1,000 people per event.
Omaha Biofuels converts the waste oil from the Henry Doorly Zoos concession stand fryers into biodiesel for the zoos passenger train.
The fried goodies come with a byproduct: used cooking oil. About 50 gallons of it per event. Rupp has tried holding tanks and haul-away services (smelly), and even had someone advise him to barrel it up himself and haul it up the road to a busy restaurant for recycling (time-consuming).
Just in time for this years Lenten season, a savior appeared: the Omaha Biofuels Cooperative, which is collecting used cooking oil from many area churches. The group places collection barrels out back free of charge and picks up the used oil the next day.
FULL great story at link.
MATT MILLER/THE WORLD-HERALD
The 50 gallons of used oil generated by each fish fry at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Gretna now is picked up by Omaha Biofuels.