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Powering Restaurants WIth Deep Fried Fuel

Posted by samzenpus on from the the-power-of-grease dept.

Mike writes "Here's a brilliant idea for biofuels: rather than filtering used fry oil for use in vehicles, why not simplify matters and use it to heat and power the restaurant itself? The VegaWatt turns used vegetable oil into clean heat and energy for restaurants, eliminating the dirty and costly mess of oil disposal while producing 10-25% of the electricity needed to run a small restaurant. It also produces fuel free of chemicals or fossil fuels, unlike standard biodiesel."

5 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. Right, right.... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "It also produces fuel free of chemicals..." As a somewhat tired internet meme would say; "O rly?"

    FFS people, virtually everything is made of "chemicals" and that isn't a problem. Sure, there are loads of quite nasty chemicals that will play hell with your chemistry and are to be avoided; but the notion that there are chemical free fuels is beyond asinine.

  2. Re:Just one problem by Scrameustache · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If everybody started using used vegetable oil for an energy source, wouldn't the cost of used vegetable oil go way up?

    If the restaurants all start using their used oil for this secondary purpose instead of selling it, how would the market for that now-mostly-free waste product exist?

    I've done that fryer-cleaning job. Trust me, if you factor in the man hours it takes to move and store that oil compared to having a hose you could plug in there to drain directly to your fuel tank, you'll chose the option that lets you spend your time scrubbing something instead of messing with fluctuating oil markets.

    It'd be worth it just to remove the occasional slip & fall with a couple of buckets full of oil spilling as you drop: The accident that causes itself.

    --

    You can't take the sky from me...

  3. Not just for soap anymore! by Scrameustache · · Score: 4, Funny

    Plastic surgery clinics could do that too. It would be better than just leaving their lipid waste in big plastic bags in bio hazard dumpsters, where anyone can just jump the fence and steal it.

    --

    You can't take the sky from me...

    1. Re:Not just for soap anymore! by MightyYar · · Score: 4, Funny

      I have a friend who fuels his lipid car simply by following Star Jones around from liposuction clinic to liposuction clinic.

      He also has a methane motorcycle that is fueled entirely by Rosie O'Donnell, and a composting house heater fueled entirely by tuning the radio to Rush Limbaugh.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
  4. Re:Coming soon, by Crazy+Man+on+Fire · · Score: 4, Informative

    Google knows all: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/1331625/McDonalds-admits-using-beef-fat-for-vegetarian-french-fries.html

    According to the article, the restaurant locations fry in vegetable oil, but the fries were partially fried in animal fat before they are frozen and shipped out to the restaurants.

    The fast-food chain had maintained for more than a decade that only vegetable oil was used in the hope of appealing to vegetarians and religious groups who do not eat beef products. Yesterday's apology triggered a violent protest by Hindus in India.

    The American company, which has served more than 200 billion portions of french fries around the world, confessed to a method of using beef fat to partly fry chips before they are sent to restaurants. They are then frozen and refried on the premises using vegetable oil.