San Francisco is all set to build a new recycling plant that will convert large quantities of "brown grease" into biodiesel. "Brown grease" is the grease left over from foods cooked in oil that can clog the city pipes.

 

According to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom the plant will come up as part of a new $1.2 million pilot program. The plant is expected to process 10,000 gallons of the dirty grease into roughly 500 gallons of fuel in a week. The program is being funded by both the state and the federal grants. The biodiesel thus produced can be used to feed motor vehicles, sewage treatment plants and the city's heating and electrical needs. Only a small quantity of restaurant grease is collected and treated in the sewer system at present.

 

San Francisco is likely convert as much as 2.5 million gallons of the city's restaurant grease into biodiesel. Meanwhile, the California Energy Commission (CEC) is looking closely at this and similar projects to help cover California's anticipated 1 billion gallon shortfall of biodiesel by 2022. The shortfall is anticipated even with a growing number of yellow grease recycling programs like San Francisco's SFGreasecycle.

 

The SFGreasecycle program, launched two years ago, collects yellow grease-like fryer oil from restaurants to fuel the city's vehicles, buses and fire trucks.