How to Get Used Cooking Oil for Biodiesel Production
With an ever-increasing focus on alternative fuel and environmental awareness, more and more people are converting their vehicles into automobiles that run on biodiesel. Biodiesel runs cleaner than gasoline and can be cheaper in the long run. One major component in making biodiesel is cooking oil.
Used cooking oil is not difficult to find or make. The problem is that, for a typical household, the amount of oil used in cooking is not large enough to facilitate production of biodiesel in large, functional quantities. For this reason, a person looking to create biodiesel must use alternative measures to collect a large amount of used cooking oil.
Keep in mind that, while vegetable oil is the most common type of oil used for the biodiesel production process, other types of oils can be used, including canola and soybean. Also, it may be helpful for you to draft and bring a copy of the biodiesel creation and usage process when you are going around looking for used cooking oil. Not many people or businesses are familiar with alternative fuel and doing this can help possible donors or suppliers to give you their oil.
Instructions:
- Have a stash of tightly- sealable containers with you in your car. You want to be able to obtain, contain and transport the used oil as efficiently and cleanly as possible.
- Call ahead to local restaurants to explain your project and ask if they have any used cooking oil they would like to donate or sell. Because this is a substance that many restaurants have to discard regularly in large quantities, you may find it easier than you think to find willing suppliers.
- Drive to the restaurants that agree to give/sell you their used oil and collect it in your containers.
- Speak to the manager about the possibility of establishing a regular pick-up schedule. This will save you the hassle of asking around next time you need to make more biodiesel.
- Maintain the established schedule so that the relationship becomes permanent and dependable.