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Re: OT: Re: (ET) pollution



I get my oil from a corn chip factory. They get rid of about 4 barrels a month of oil that looks almost like new. I pick it up for free, and they have to pay to get rid of it otherwise, but there is always some for me. If you want to get it from a small [lace like a restaurant, you have to be consistent, but larger places, including an organic oil processor in northern california, get rid of lots, and it costs them, and they don't mind paying to get rid of less. What they tell me is that dirty oil gets fed to chickens, and clean oil used to get filtered and sold in third world countries for cheap. This is now frowned upon, and the clean oil is apparently worth less than the dirty oil. I run an email list for biodieselers, and of the 200 people on it, at least 50 of them make their own, many more buy, and some are in coops that make their own. My list only serves the greater SF bay area. Most of that is made from recycled oil, including a lot of the commercially available BD. Nobody is trying to say that BD will replace petroleum, but it can make a small difference, and if some of the studies being done with algae production of oil pan out, it could be a big dent. I'll bet my friend's corn chips taste better than the ones from the place you worked :-)
anton

Bill Alexander wrote:

. . .

However, if you obtain used vegetable oil from local restaurants and
reprocess it into fuel, one could argue that you're getting your fuel with 
no
^additional^ use of fossil fuels (providing you haul it with your BD fueled
vehicle).  You're also saving landfill space.


I used to work in a Tortilla factory, where we fried chips as well as baked
tortillas.  I don't know about others, but we used a LOT of cooking oil,
but threw away almost none.  We filtered it, and there was enough that went
w/ the chips that it never got "old".  I believe it is rare that a
restaurant or food processor actually throws a significant amount away,
most is picked up by an oil recycler.  I don't know where it goes, but it
is too valuable to throw away.  Used oil will never be a significant source
of motor vehicle fuel, because there is so little of it.  One or 2 people
can run vehicles, but not thousands.  Another problem is that anyone who
wants it for free has to be reliable about getting it, or it isn't worth
the business' trouble to deal with.

. . .
The moral is, don't throw over your ET for a BD tractor!


Bill Alexander                         Excuse me if I ramble,
Physics Dept.                          but I drive a Nash.
Humboldt State University
Arcata,  CA  95521

phone: (707) 826-3212
e-mail: wca1 humboldt edu
http://sorrel.humboldt.edu/~phyx/faculty/alexander.html



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