Get Biodiesel from those cafeteria waste oil

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Written by Sabrina Deparine

Tuesday, 26 October 2010 09:59

Page views: 3697

A team of chemists from the University of Basque Country in Spain recently made a breakthrough discovery that can contribute to the efforts of promoting the use of biofuels.
Just last week, the team was able to demonstrate how to produce biodiesel from cafeteria waste oil. Initially, the pilot test was conducted within the university campus. The team got the waste oil from the university cafeteria and used this to verify their theories and techniques. The technique they had devised proved to be effective since they were able to produce enough biodiesel to meet the demands of the campus.

Image source:http://ecoseed.org/articleImages/Basque-university-harness-biodiesel-from-throwaway-oil_295x220.jpg

Image source:http://ecoseed.org/articleImages/Basque-university-harness-biodiesel-from-throwaway-oil_295x220.jpg

Clearly, this new initiative will allow the University of Basque Country to decrease its use of petroleum products; thus, resulting to less carbon footprint. The project has been running for the past two years and is financed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) under the university’s sustainable development and environmental education program.

Technically, waste oil can be converted to biodiesel through a transesterification process wherein organic groups of ester and alcohol are interchanged. Either an acid or a basic catalyst is also required to allow the reaction to proceed. The team researched a lot on the different possible techniques to be used for this process because they wanted to find the cheapest and yet, most rapid method to catalyze the reaction. As a result, the entire process of converting waste oil to biodiesel occurs in no more than an hour. The resulting biodiesel is then tested. It can be used to power lawn mowers and the heating system as well as to power some of the university’s vehicles.

This initiative is indeed commendable because instead of just throwing away the waste oil, the team was able to find a very useful solution for it. Although the end product seems to be working, the team will continue to work on the project. This time, they will focus on optimization of the product and on increasing social awareness for it. The increase in social awareness can help catapult the biodiesel product for use in large-scale applications. However, this would require both government and public support.

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