Powering Restaurants WIth Deep Fried Fuel 148
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."
Re:Coming soon, (Score:2, Informative)
They've used vegetable oil in their fryers for at least 10 years now. They now use a blend of soy and canola oil. http://www.ilsoy.org/soy-news/article/?sort=14&id=172 [ilsoy.org]
Re:What type of conversion? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Coming soon, (Score:5, Informative)
Google knows all: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/1331625/McDonalds-admits-using-beef-fat-for-vegetarian-french-fries.html [telegraph.co.uk]
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.
Re:Clean? (Score:4, Informative)
When was that carbon last in the atmosphere? If the answer is "within the past two years" then it doesn't make things worse.
If the answer is "fifty-seven million years ago" then there may be a problem.
Re:Just one problem (Score:3, Informative)
That would cause the formation of trans-fats, a very bad thing.
Dupe....of idle.... (Score:3, Informative)
Not only is this a dupe, like so many others on /., but it's a dupe of an article considered so stupid, it was put on idle: http://idle.slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=3713481 [slashdot.org]
Re:Not just for soap anymore! (Score:3, Informative)
Already tried by a doctor in Beverley Hills. [theage.com.au] He used it to power two SUVs.