McDonald's Partnership Will Recycle Veggie Oil Into Fuel

Earlier this month, McDonald’s United Arab Emirates division announced that it would partner with Neutral Fuels LLC to build the nation’s first licensed biodiesel plant.

The long-term contract between the two companies means used vegetable oil will be collected from McDonald’s outlets across the UAE and converted into 100 percent biodiesel. McDonald’s UAE will then use the biodiesel to power its logistics fleet, achieving significant carbon footprint reductions along the way.

“The venture involves the Gulf nation’s first plant licensed to make biodiesel,” said Karl Feilder, chairman of Neutral Group. ”The facility will have an annual output capacity of 1 million liters (264,000 gallons). We are taking away the need to import diesel. Biodiesel from the factory in Dubai, the second-largest emirate in the U.A.E., will supply a limited number of companies at first and won’t be available for wider sale.”

Made from organic sources, 100 percent biodiesel can be used in place of conventional diesel producing obvious substantial savings on fuel and better environmental performance of diesel engines. The current vehicles being used under the first phase required no modification whatsoever and are running with no issues on 100 percent biodiesel, according to a joint statement.

Bloomberg reported that the 90 McDonald’s restaurants spread across the UAE require approximately 20,000 liters of vegetable oil to provide Arabs with a daily supply of fried foods, although company officials declined to estimate the venture’s cost or the savings they expected it to generate.

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Image Credit: Flickr - Keoni Cabral

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Howard C.

8:46AM PST on Dec 6, 2011

Sounds good, hope it actually happens.

send a green star

Karen B.

2:41AM PST on Dec 1, 2011

Well, that's pretty damn neato!! :)

James H.

2:11AM PDT on Sep 13, 2011

bout time

Eternal G.

5:50PM PDT on Aug 30, 2011

Hmmm...

Sonny H.

8:00PM PDT on Aug 26, 2011

Good news if really put into practice.

Arielle B.

10:44PM PDT on Aug 8, 2011

Awesome! Glad to hear about it!

Michael C.

6:26PM PDT on Aug 2, 2011

Marilyn C.

Biodiesel production is not BOGGED DOWN, it is not like ethanol production, with its energy ratio out of whack.

I just finished a trip from southern Mexico to Arizona, on fuel of my own production, nary a single problem and my cost of production, a mere .93 cents per gallon.

An important rule applies here: Screw governments! I have been producing BioDiesel for over a decade and I have never experienced any legal problems. Trust me, I am right in their faces with the fact that I produce BioDiesel and refuse to pay road taxes.

A parting thought, there are over one hundred large production plants in the US and many smaller plants. Each of these plants are contributing to CO₂ production.

I must say this, I soon, will move to an all electric vehicle, of which is much cleaner than burning BioDiesel.

Janice S.

1:56PM PDT on Aug 1, 2011

Excellent news! We need to do that here in the US! ( Next thing you know , we will be importing the biodeisel form the Arabs too. -- I certanly hope not)

Lika S.

12:16AM PDT on Aug 1, 2011

Hey, why not? They're already the "oil" people anyway, so maybe this can start a trend, and we can stop being so dependent on the other stuff. Plus it's going green.

Juliet D.

6:14AM PDT on Jul 30, 2011

How to convert a vehicle to run on vegetable oil:
"Start with a modern diesel engine. Nearly any newer diesel engine can be converted to run on vegetable oil as long as it doesn't have rubber seals in its fuel system"

Read more: How to Convert a Car to Run on Vegetable Oil | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2004136_vegetable-oil-fuel.html#ixzz1TatT5VM7