2 big breakthroughs turning fat, oil and grease into fuel
Posted by staff / March 21, 2011
Mom always said not to toss the bacon grease down the sink to prevent a nasty clog, but ten billion gallons of fat, oil and grease (aka, “FOG”) builds up in sewage pipes each year and usually has to be trucked to a landfill where it takes its sweet time returning to Mother Earth.
Two innovative start-up companies are in the running to grab the Imagine H2O’s Water-Energy Nexus Prize for discovering ways to turn FOG to fuel. Blackgold Biofuels creates biodiesel from FOG at the wastewater treatment plant in San Francisco using a process that
“… not only reduces the amount of energy needed to treat FOG but also results in “an environmentally friendly fuel that can be used onsite or sold for profit,” [explained the company’s CEO and co-founder Emily Bockian]. Conversion to biodiesel offers the highest and best use for this material.”
FogBusters has achieved “the first big breakthrough in oil/water separation in 25 years,” according to CEO Bradley Mart with its patented method of separating FOG from water without using chemicals.
Most can’t say the same for getting that grease out of the sink back home, but it sounds like those working to turn FOG to biodiesel have the ultimate marketing campaign at their disposal: “Eat more bacon, save the world.”
Full story at Good.is.
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