Chris Rodinis
http://www.energymanagertoday.com/kitchen-grease-powers-london-sewage-works-090797/
Hey everybody this is exciting news to me. You know nasty grease that everyone complains about? I’m talking about “greasy” foods yes, but I am also referring to the tons of used grease that restaurants cycle through everyday.
There is so much grease in restaurants that they have special plumbing for it known as a “grease trap.” Grease traps usually require monthly or quarterly maintenance similar to cesspools.
Yes and there is tons of grease being recycled or disposed of every day, however, this is a new way of handling it.
This is absolutely a prime example of creative and useful reuse.
Starting soon in East London a power station will process used grease and oil from local restaurants to fuel a new power station on the grid!
From Grease to Gigawatts!
Here is a quote from the article: “The plant, developed and run by 2OC and financed by a consortium led by iCON Infrastructure, is set to produce 130 Gigawatt hours (GWh) a year of renewable electricity.”
“Thames Water has agreed to buy 75 GWh of this output to run Beckton sewage works, which serves 3.5 million people, and the nearby desalination plant, which is operated in times of drought or other emergencies.”
Any power leftover is going to be added to the energy grid for sale.
There will be 30 tons per day of fat, oil, and grease for use by the water plant which has promised to produce a significant amount of power by this method.
Fuel from Fat
In case you were wondering, that amount of fat is equal to what would fill a “six meter long shipping container.”
The plan is for the used grease to be collected from grease traps and from “pinch points” in London’s sewer network.
Considering that Thames Water spends over a million dollars per month clearing sewer clogs this makes the recycling fat for fuel process even more noteworthy as a double win.
Because Thames Water has committed to using “fat” fuel worth over $300 million over the next few years, funding the cost of the project at $107 million makes financial sense.
The new processing plant is scheduled to open by April of 2015.
Currently 14% of Thames Water’s power is from green sustainable practices.
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