BioDiesel for all

In the old days it used to be that you just drove your Nissan Sentra and perhaps its brand new Nissan Sentra parts over to McDonalds to get some of those yummy French fries and Mcburgers.





Now can you imagine getting your car fueled in McDonalds? How about a fuel pump sticking out the drive thru window to gas up your car?





No? Maybe literally these scenarios are far-fetched, but, to get fuel to power your car from the world-famous food chain’s kitchen isn’t as remote a possibility as you think.





In the UK just recently, McDonalds has announced that it will be converting all of its UK delivery vans to run on cooking oil-based biodiesel. This means that aside from getting to enjoy that delicious smell of double cheeseburger ‘n’ fries as a delivery truck drives by our British friends can do so rest assured that the truck may be carrying sinful food but it isn’t at least, making the dreadful environmental transgression we call pollution.





So how does it work?





According to a report by Topgear, once the oil has been used to make your Freedom Fries turn into a tasty state of crispiness, it'll be combined with rapeseed oil to power McDonald's 155 Lorries, saving some 1,650 tonnes of carbon each year. Which is something, if you think about all the folks calling for delivery everyday, right?





Here in our shores, we are also not lacking in environmentally-sound burger-delivering companies. In 2006 it was reported that Burgerville, a Vancouver, WA-based "fast casual" restaurant chain, has begun converting its used cooking oil into biodiesel. Through an agreement with Portland company MRP Services, the used oil is picked up and transported to a processing plant where it is converted to biodiesel.





Before the two companies arranged to do good for Mother Nature, the oil was shipped to Asia and typically used in the creation of cosmetics and soap.





This isn’t the first foray into sustainable business practices for Burgerville though. Last August, the company announced it would pay for its electricity by purchasing wind power, a move that saved a staggering 17.4 million pounds of carbon dioxide from being released to the region annually.





About Biodiesel


Biodiesel is the name of a clean burning alternative fuel, produced from domestic, renewable resources. Biodiesel contains no petroleum, but it can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend. It can be used in compression-ignition (diesel) engines with little or no modifications. Biodiesel is simple to use, biodegradable, nontoxic, and essentially free of sulfur and aromatics.





Biodiesel is better for the environment because it is made from renewable resources and has lower emissions compared to petroleum diesel. It is less toxic than table salt and biodegrades as fast as sugar. Since it is made in the USA from renewable resources such as soybeans, its use decreases our dependence on foreign oil and contributes to our own economy. (source: http://www.biodiesel.org/)