Posted on 01/08/2007 9:39:24 AM PST by Red Badger
John McQueen checks his 275-gallon tank of restaurant grease that is seperating, a process necessary in the production of biodiesel fuel.
HAMMONTON — John McQueen still hasn't figured out how to turn worthless metals into gold or grow money on trees.
But he can perform one transmutation that might qualify as modern alchemy: Making dirty, used restaurant cooking oil into a cheap petroleum substitute.
“We come from the greatest country in the world, and I don't think we should be dependent on foreign, or even domestic, oil producers who are going to charge us so much money to fill up our gas tanks,” he says.
That's why McQueen is sitting on an old, unpainted wooden table in the Hammonton garage that is home to New Jersey Renewable Resources LLC, holding a container full of congealed grease in one hand and an old tomato sauce jar full of an amber-colored liquid in the other.
“We turn this,” he says, indicating the grease, “... into this.”
The amber-colored liquid is biodiesel. McQueen sells it for between $1.50 and $1.91 per gallon (additives to keep it from jelling make winter fuel more expensive). It can be mixed right in with petroleum-based diesel and requires no engine retrofitting, McQueen says. He also believes it's better for the vehicle than traditional diesel. As proof, he offers his own Volkswagen Jetta and Mercedes, which together have traveled more than 500,000 miles on homemade biodiesel.
“You pour it down into the tank, just like you were going to the gas station,” McQueen says. “It's just overall better for the environment and the engine as well.”
Currently, McQueen processes about 500 gallons per week of used cooking oil, mostly from small, independent restaurants that donate their grease. The finished biodiesel is delivered to individuals and businesses throughout the area who have heard about McQueen through word of mouth, he says.
His business is about to get a lot bigger, though. This week, McQueen and the Atlantic County Utilities Authority expect to ink an agreement under which McQueen will take the ACUA's cooking grease — largely from the city's casino industry — and process it, at no charge to either party. McQueen expects the agreement will about double his capacity to 1,000 gallons per week by Feb. 1.
It's a win-win situation for McQueen and for the ACUA, which currently expends considerable money and aggravation getting rid of the stuff.
“(Restaurant oil) causes all sorts of problems in the (sewage) treatment process,” ACUA President Rick Dovey said. “We accept it because we know there really isn't any reasonable place it can be taken.”
Currently, the ACUA puts restaurant grease into the sewage treatment plant with other waste, then has to skim it off and burn it. It's a messy and expensive process with no tangible reward — other than getting rid of the grease.
Now, the ACUA will hold grease collected by Egg Harbor Township contractor Nelbud in tanks, instead of putting it in the sewage treatment system, and McQueen will transport it to Hammonton for processing.
“What better way to get rid of the oil than to use it as fuel for vehicles?” McQueen says.
“It will be a better use for it — better than to just burn it up,” Dovey concurs.
McQueen's interest in biodiesel dates back to the 1970s, when the nation's energy crisis convinced him that there had to be options other than foreign oil dependence. A former diesel mechanic, he has been interested in science since high school. He attended North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University, didn't finish, but “learned enough,” he says.
The skills serve him well in his miniature chemistry lab in Hammonton, where he uses an oil sample, beaker, eyedropper and scale to perform the calculations he needs to get each load of cooking oil to an optimum pH for processing.
Screened, strained and chemically separated down to a pure oil, McQueen makes fuel from grease in as little as six to eight hours.
Then, it's ready to be delivered to the customers.
“Private users, non-commercial users, they call and say, listen, I need a fill today,” McQueen explains.
And — at least until there are biodiesel pumps in the county — New Jersey Renewable Resources delivers.
For more information: Restaurants seeking to donate grease, call Jean Cean at (609) 816-4775. Consumers and businesses seeking to buy biodiesel, call Claudy DeGean at (609) 816-1011.
Rest In Peace, old friend, your work is finished.......
If you want on or off the DIESEL "KnOcK" LIST just FReepmail me........
This is a fairly HIGH VOLUME ping list on some days......
The banishment of Transfatty Acids from restaurant kitchens should kill this industry in its infancy.
" ... grease that is seperating,(sic) a process ..."
As opposed to separating, a more common, correctly spelled process.
;-p
That's something I hadn't considered. Hmmmm
>> McQueen sells it for between $1.50 and $1.91 per gallon
>> Currently, McQueen processes about 500 gallons per week
That's not what I would call a very good 'living wage'. Here's hoping he has another full time job.
is that strictly true? Does it make such a huge chemical difference to the starting raw materials or do you mean their availability will decrease? (surely the idea of Americans dropping junk food en masse is a little unlikely?)
I don't know... That's $750-950 a week, which would need 136 hours a week at minimum wages. He's not getting rich fast, but if he doubles production as planned he will be knocking on $80K a year and could look to duplicate the production in other places (or franchise) and start making real money. Plus his costs are fixed and his raw materials will cost him nothing in his agreement with the utility (compared to a typical refineries costs of $50-60 a barrel)
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