San Francisco brown grease-to-biodiesel plant opens

In California, a demonstration plant has begun operation at the Oceanside Wastewater Treatment Plant in San Francisco, that creates biodiesel fuel from restaurant trap grease. The demonstration treatment plant will process 10,000 gallons per day of trap waste, recovering 300-500 gallons a day of brown grease and converting it to biodiesel.

The program is an extension of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s (SFPUC) SFGreasecycle program to prevent fats, oils and grease from being released into city sewers, where they solidify and constrict wastewater flow, causing back-ups and damage to sewer lines. For the past three years, the SFPUC and URS have worked to develop a comprehensive FOG Control Program that considers the needs and characteristics of restaurant operators, city government, residents, environmental agencies and the commercial grease industry. The start-up of the brown-grease-to-biodiesel plant demonstrates the potential for urban areas to develop similar programs to collect and utilize FOG.

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