For those who haven’t read the book/seen the film, he steals bags of liposuction bio-waste from plastic surgery clinics and then renders it into designer soap that he sells to high-end stores.

The only thing that surprised me about the NYT article is reading restaurateurs used to give the stuff away that and San Francisco collected grease as a public service. A long time ago I first noticed “property of xyz” labels protecting waste grease. Maybe we’re more “waste not, want not” conscious in flyover country.

Mel Gibson can drive an armored grease collection truck and fight off the marauding hippies.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/05/21/oil.theft.ap/

To manufacture the renewable fuel legally, biodiesel producers must register with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Biodiesel consumers must also pay the government taxes to help with road upkeep.

Bootleggers are cheating the restaurants who now have a second source of income and the government. But I guess if Hillary makes good on her promise to suspend fuel taxes, it won’t matter if the government gets theirs.

Call it “Grease – The Inevitable”.

If this becomes big enough, and the tax status makes it a potential revenue source, of course the government will get interested. At present, though, there is plenty of room for flex, because with diesel retailing at $4.50-$5.00 per gallon in many places, getting stuck with a $0.50-$0.75 per gallon tax on your used-grease/fuel leaves you with plenty of surplus to play with. (Add $2.00 per gallon acquision and production cost, and you’re still getting half-price fuel).

It doesn’t surprise me at all. In my area an industrial producer has gotten smart and is paying eateries for grease, working the local restaurant trade shows, sending out sales people, etc. They have locked up just about every source in the region now.

It used to be my biggest problem was educating the fry cooks not to treat the grease like garbage (throwing crap in it, leaving the barrels open to rain, etc.) and keeping sources through the constant ownership and staff turnover that defines the food service industry. Now my biggest problem is hanging onto sources period.

Ideally I’d like to find a restaurant owner who drives a Diesel vehicle and I’d gladly share my output from the BioDiesel reactor with them. “Free” (really about $1.50/gal) fuel for both of us. Win/Win scenarios are best.

If any restaurant owner in the Seattle area is interested, let me know! ;)

–chuck
http://chuck.goolsbee.org

As always, the Simpsons’ writers called it.

Sorry Chuck, you should have kept it all a secret!

:)

I say waste engine oil will be next. A bit harder to process, and full of toxic metals, but would work great for furnaces and big diesels.

It’s only a matter of time before we’ll start getting water&sewer credit from the utility company for using the lavatory :)