April 09--Used cooking oil is increasingly being turned into diesel fuel for trucks and buses in South Florida.
A $4 million biodiesel plant is now being built, the largest to serve the tri-county area. The South Florida plant will convert waste cooking oil from suppliers such as restaurants at Miami International Airport to biodiesel, with some to be used by fleets at the airport and likely other airports, said developers from Green Gallon Solutions of North Fort Myers.
The new factory complements year-old Greenwave Biodiesel of Fort Lauderdale, which can produce 3.6 million gallons annually. Greenwave is building one of the area's first retail pumps for biodiesel next to its plant at 840 NW 57th Place, near Commercial Boulevard and Powerline Road. The retail pump should open by fall, said company co-owner Jon Solin.
In Palm Beach County, Cafe Boulud at The Brazilian Court Hotel already sells its used cooking oil to be turned into biodiesel at a Green Gallon Solutions plant in Southwest Florida.
The cafe's chef, Jim Leiken, calls the partnership a "win-win for everyone." The restaurant gets paid to have its waste grease hauled away, Green Gallon makes a profit and the biodiesel produced burns cleaner than petroleum-based diesel, helping the environment.
"We used to pay to get the grease removed. Now, they pay us," said Leiken. "And something that ordinarily would go to waste gets recycled. We all come out ahead."
Biodiesel still accounts for only a tiny portion of the diesel consumed in Florida and nationwide -- less than 1 percent, according to the Florida Bioenergy Association and the National Biodiesel Board.
That's partly because large-scale use will take lots more than the nation's limited supplies of used cooking oil. It will require mass production of crops that can produce oil at reasonable prices, said Jeremy Susac, who runs the Florida bioenergy group and has an office in Riviera Beach.
"Soy, sunflower and canola oils are quite a bit more expensive than restaurant grease, and you'd definitely be paying a premium at the pump to use those oils for biodiesel," said Susac.
The U.S. government helped kick-start the biodiesel industry in 2005 by offering a tax credit and then requiring certain minimum levels of use for renewable fuels.
The federal tax credit helps cut the price of biodiesel to less than $3.30 per gallon, compared with roughly $4.15 per gallon for petroleum-based diesel today. Without that credit, biodiesel made from supplies other than used cooking oil may be too costly, said Kaleb Little of the National Biodiesel Board.
Florida is mulling its own tax credit for biofuels companies, with a bill awaiting the governor's signature this month, said Susac.
Green Gallon Solutions is expanding, with or without the credits. It buys used cooking oil for about 50 cents a gallon, a price low enough to turn a profit , said sales manager Tony Amato. The company plans 25 plants, including two opening in Miami and Orlando this year.
Copyright 2012 - Sun Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
