TGIF! TURNING GREASE INTO FUEL
"I was shocked when I found out people in my own community couldn't afford to heat their own homes"
Cassandra Lin, Project T.G.I.F
TURNING GREASE INTO FUEL
BACKGROUND: Project TGIF is a student-led project where restaurants and residents recycle their waste cooking oil; it gets turned into biodiesel and is donated to charity to support families who require heating assistance. The group was inspired after reading an article in The Westerly Sun about the WARM Shelter's a Dollar A Week campaign to raise funds for heating assistance in Westerly, R.I. Some restaurants produce between 100 and 300 gallons of cooking oil per month and then pay a company to dispose of the oil. Project TGIF decided to take the oil off their hands for free. (www.projecttgif.com)
WHAT IS BIODIESEL: Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel manufactured from vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled restaurant greases. It is safe, biodegradable and produces less air pollutants than petroleum-based fuel. There are many advantages to using biodiesel. It is domestically produced from non-petroleum, renewable sources. It can be used for most diesel engine vehicles. It causes less air pollutants and greenhouse gases. It is biodegradable, non toxic therefore it is safer to handle. (www.fueleconomy.gov)
APPLICATION: Biodiesel is actually good for diesel engines because it lubricates better than petroleum-based diesel fuel and has excellent solvent properties. Conventional diesel fuel can leave deposits inside fuel lines, storage tanks, and fuel delivery systems over time. Biodiesel dissolves this sediment while adding no deposits of its own, resulting in cleaner, more trouble- free fuel handling systems once fuel filters clogged with diesel sediments have been replaced after the switch to biodiesel has been made.
The U.S. is currently producing biodiesel at the rate of about 20 million gallons per year, but has a capacity to produce more than 50 million gallons per year.
(www.eere.energy.gov)
