Question: I know there are a few things I can do with my used fryer oil—can you tell me about my options?
Answer: Chances are, you’re already recycling your used fryer oil, but you may not know as much as you’d like.
At one time, used vegetable oil was simply dumped into landfills. Sometimes it was used to make animal feed or fertilizer, but its use was somewhat limited
Nowadays, there are more options.
One use for waste vegetable oil is as biodiesel fuel.
Companies who produce biodiesel treat used vegetable oil, recovering about 80% of its energy. This process makes fuel for anything that runs on petroleum diesel (like heating units and vehicles).
Biodiesel produces fewer emissions than regular diesel and is economical to produce, making it a good alternative to straight fossil fuels.
For more about biodiesel, take a look at this overview article by LEAF.
One other use for waste vegetable oil is as a fuel for your very own on-site power generator. We wrote about these types of systems in our article about Vegawatt, which uses fryer oil to generate electricity and heat water.
What do you do with your fryer oil? Share your thoughts in the comments section.
Image credit: D’Arcy Norman
