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benefits, case studies, testimonials
Gourmet Biodiesel
As a group, you couldn’t be better positioned to make biodiesel out of waste cooking oil in your facility than if you are a restaurant, a brewery (that serves food) or any other member of the food service world.
Our list of notable customers includes a long list of restaurants as well as The US Military, Sara Lee Foods, Toyota, Honda, Sierra Nevada Brewery, and now more than 100 different schools.
The company won a prestigious Kitchen Innovations Award from the National Restaurant Association in May of 2012.
This is how it works, all you have to do is collect the waste cooking oil from your kitchens.
Once you have collected 50 gallons (capacity for a BioPro 190), or 100 gallons (capacity for a BioPro 380), you can pour or pump this oil, through a 300 micron filter, straight into your machine.
Next, load your machine with chemicals (these include methanol, lye and a small amount of sulfuric acid), turn on the machine and press start. If your oil titrates at 5% FFA (most collected waste cooking oil does) and has less than 0.5 % water in it, The machine will convert this into ASTM grade biodiesel. If the oil is too wet, it can be dried in the machine.
The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone converts used vegetable oil into biodiesel for student shuttle buses. Oil from deep fat fryers as well as from the Wine Spectator restaurant produce about 400 gallons per week. CIAG calculates their biodiesel production cost at 88 cents per gallon. Facilities Manager Greg Phipps says, “For us, it’s a no brainer. Plus the students learn about sustainability.” He says bus fuel economy has remained constant and drivers have noted an increase in performance since the change over took place.
Mystic Lake is the biggest casino in Minnesota. In 2007, Fleet Services launched a biodiesel program to reduce diesel emissions and save money on fuel costs. Each month, they collect cooking oil from the casino’s 9 restaurants and produce as much as 1,080 gallons of biodiesel in a BioPro™ 380EX. According to their website, 11,626 gallons of biodiesel were pumped into shuttle buses and other vehicles from April 29, 2009 to March 2, 2010. That 11 month period saved them $23,252 and kept approximately 110 tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere.
Sierra Nevada Brewery is well known, not only for its fine ales, but also for its cutting edge efforts to reduce emissions, recycle waste and employ new energy technologies. Sierra Nevada owns a BioPro™ 190. They collect their Waste Vegetable Oil from their Taproom and, each week, make a batch of 50 gallons of biodiesel. They blend this converted waste stream into their long haul and local truck fleets. They make their biodiesel for 90 cents per gallon and have made approximately 3,000 gallons in their machine to date.
Brian Latta is the owner of 2 Chuy's restaurants in Tucson Arizona. Brian has owned a BioPro™ 190 since 2007. He produces over 100 gallons of fuel each month converting his WVO to fuel his 2006 Chevy Duramax 2500HD.
Brian writes,
I covered the cost of the processor long ago and everything now is gravy on top of being Green! This is a great benefit to future expansion. I may need a bigger processor! Thanks to all the fine people at Springboard for all your help and advice through the years. Sincerely, Brian Latta"
Sam Manolakas, owner of Brookfields Restaurants in Sacramento, says:
The BioPro 190 is a great machine and easy to use. We make one batch per week, based upon our diesel consumption, and use the Biodiesel in our 2006 Sprinter delivery van. We filter the end product to 2 microns and have had no issues with the biodiesel in the 5 months of use. Our fuel costs for our company have gone from $1,000 per month to just over $300 per month. We will pay for the machine in less than 17 months, just in fuel savings. We are also promoting the “green” aspect of our Biodiesel manufacturing in our 3 restaurants and have received great customer comments."