From trash to cash

16th January, 2008

Anyone who is familiar with the smell of used cooking oil or chipper grease in a diesel vehicle will have to get ready for a new experience – the smell of chicken or bacon diesel. Until recently, yellow grease, waste vegetable oil (WVO) and animal fats have played a small part in a larger, growing biodiesel industry.

Over the last 18 months, the price of virgin vegetable oils such as rapeseed, soybean oil and palm oil have nearly doubled. This is of great concern to biodiesel producers, since the cost of feedstock comprises approximately 80% of total operating costs at a biodiesel plant. When the prices of vegetable oils increase biodiesel producers start looking for lower-cost feedstocks to offset risks, diversify supplies, and improve chances of a profitable, sustainable, economic business.

There are three defining characteristics of renewable diesel that differentiate it from traditional WVO and animal fats for use in biodiesel – price, process, and petrochemical properties.

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