Energy from frying fat
October 4, 2011
Project size: 7,200 liters of used cooking oil a day
Cost: 500,000 Euros ($665,000)
Project goal: generating 7 million kilowatt hours of power to serve around 3,000 homes
Austria is a pioneer when it comes to turning used cooking oil into something more useful: power. Through a multi-layered system of collecting and processing cooking fat, the goal is to create renewable energy and fuel. The oil is purified and turned into a fluid form of biomass that's ready to be used.
In the Austrian state of Tyrol, a combined heat and power plant in the town of Fritzens is getting attention for one reason: it runs on used cooking fat. The plant generates enough electricity a year to provide power to 3,500 residents in the region. Tyrol has been collecting used oil from private homes and restaurants since 1999. Buckets in various sizes are handed out to anyone who wants to collect and turn in cooking fat. The system is called “Öli,” and in Fritzens alone, 1800 tons of used oil are collected in every year.
After the cooking fat is collected, it's brought to a purification facility near the city of Innsbruck. There, the oil is cleaned to get rid of any dirt or food particles and turned into fuel. Then, it's fed into an old ship engine that was rebuilt to run the facility. The engine sparks a generator that feeds 6 million kilowatt hours of energy a year into the power grid.
A film by Brigitta Moll (ss)