McDonald's will make biodiesel from its own waste grease for trucking fleet
I think the world now makes a little more sense.
Over in the UK, McDonald's announced today that it will start using its own waste cooking oil to make biodiesel, which will be then used in its entire truck fleet of 155 vehicles. McDonald's has 1,200 restaurants in Britain, and Matthew Howe, senior vice president with McDonald's UK, told Reuters that the fast food chain just might be able to sell biodiesel to others because they'll likely have some excess. The biodiesel will be made from 85 percent McDonald's waste grease and 15 pure rapeseed (canola) oil. Once the biodiesel production process is refined, Howe said the virgin rapeseed element might be taken out.
About 20 trucks in the southern English town of Basingstoke started using biodiesel today, following a year-long B5 trial period. During this time, McDonald's converted 150,000 liters of used cooking oil to biodiesel. The whole truck fleet should be converted to biodiesel in about a year, which will mean 6.1 million liters of waste oil put to use on the roads. McDonald's claims the switch will save 1,675 tons of carbon each year. Yahoo! UK says the McDonald's trucks in Austria have been using biodiesel "for a few years."
Betcha that Biofuels Corporation wishes they'd been a part of this.
[Source: Reuters, Yahoo! UK, h/t to Gary F]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
G-Rock 7:12PM (1/29/2008)
That is a good idea, but please quit with the "Save the Earth" crap. Just because MacDonalds is going to make fuel from their leftover grease doesn't mean that the world is saved... we still have democrats!
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Jason 8:25PM (7/17/2008)
yeah its hard getting micky dees in the us to do it i have been trying to get them to sell there oil to me so i can convert it.
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Uncle B 3:02PM (11/24/2008)
The need to economize, and be frugal during the great republican depression will be naturally good for the environment, like it or not! All trade has come to a standstill in the U.S.A. and the world is convulsing towards a new form of money system. The 21 century will be very interesting, even the Mayans thought so, and ended their calendar in 2012 to let us know!
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L1G 6:19AM (7/03/2007)
:-D ! GREAT IDEE ! :-D I only hope that is legal, because the UK will no more earn fee on the McDonald fleet... In Germany, a lot of Mercedes-Benz Diesel owners already use cooking oil, more information on www.salatoel.com (german website)
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Yggdrasilly 11:33AM (7/03/2007)
*"We gotta tell...people..."*
"Sure Frylock, we will, we will..."
*"...tell 'em...tell everybody...."*
"I'll file a report..."
*"...BIODIESEL IS FRIES!...Biodeiesel...is... fries..."*
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lynne 9:07AM (7/06/2007)
Yay for Mc-d's! Lets save the earth together!!
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Haibe 9:58PM (7/12/2007)
More such things at http://zonow.com/33
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David 11:25PM (7/12/2007)
They may not care much about our health, but at least they care about the planet (or their money :O )
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Bowen 1:52PM (7/15/2007)
And where is the US on projects like this. Classic!!!
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David 8:35AM (7/13/2007)
In my mind, the use of the fake sign separated this article from journalism by too much. Sorry, didn't like it.
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