Reap the benefits by making your own diesel
Disposing of waste oil is a major headache for the pub trade, but pubs could have a liquid asset in their fryers.
Officially, more than 100,000 tonnes of waste vegetable oil a year is created by the catering industry - a high proportion coming from fryers. The Environment Agency estimates that a further 100,000 tonnes per year is disposed of illegally.
Currently, more than 75,000 tonnes of waste vegetable oil is turned into biodiesel each year, which can then be used to power any diesel vehicle without modification, or a generator, or even used in oil heating systems.
And with the right equipment, turning your own vegetable oil into biodiesel isn't a costly task.
Dave Turner, owner of the Bell Inn, a freehouse in South Newton, Salisbury, has been creating biodiesel since summer 2008 from his used fryer oil. He estimates that he is saving around £30 a week by producing his own biodiesel.
"I haven't been to a petrol station for eight months. The pub's rural location means that producing all the fuel for our two vehicles makes a big difference. It reduces business costs such as going back and forward to the cash & carry," explains Dave.
"I was fed up with someone else making money from my waste product. I was being charged for somebody to take away my waste oil and they were then selling it on to a company that produces biodiesel.
"I've approached it primarily as a cost-saving exercise, rather than from the green perspective - the vehicles still produce CO2. But in this climate anything you can do to reduce business costs makes a difference. I'm now stockpiling biodiesel as we'll be using it to fuel a new boiler we're having installed this summer. It's just a standard diesel boiler and will take the biodiesel."
Dave has working closely with biofuel company Green Fuels, based in Gloucestershire. The company supplies the Fuelpod 2 processor, which is fully automated and small enough to fit into a storeroom, enabling the fuel to be produced safely as and when required.
