New Grease-to-Biodiesel Facility Located at the Future Site of the George W. Bush Sewage Plant?

You know how we all planned on sticking to our leader, George W. Bush, by renaming the Oceanside Wastewater Treatment Facility the George W. Bush Sewage Plant? Well, today Gavin Newsom "announced the receipt of a $1
million California Energy Commission (CEC) grant to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) to build the City's first pilot grease-to-biodiesel production facility." And said facility? Will be at the SFPUC's Oceanside Sewage Treatment Plant. The Bush Poop place! Check it:

The facility will be sited at the SFPUC's Oceanside Sewage Treatment Plant, and is considered unique because it will attempt to create three grades of biodiesel from "brown grease", which are pan scrapings [Hey, that's flavor you're all wasting! -- SFist] and washed oil residue trapped in grease traps/interceptors under a restaurant sink. There are more than 2.5 million gallons of brown grease in the city, compared with 1.5 million gallons of "yellow grease" like fryer oil. Biodiesel from grease is easily created using the cleaner yellow grease, while brown grease is typically discarded at sewage treatment plants.

Neat, huh?

But also: oh oh. What about the name change? Will you, reader,. still vote for the ordinance, knowing that the plant will now help, like, totally SAVE THE ENTIRE WORLD? Is there a better, more shit-tinged SF locale that we can instead rechristen "The George W. Bush _____" now?

To read the entire press release on the new grease-to-biodiesel facility, follow the jump.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Contact: Mayor's Office of Communications, 415-554-6131
Tony Winnicker, SFPUC, 415-xxx-xxxx

*** PRESS RELEASE ***

SAN FRANCISCO RECEIVES $1 MILLION STATE GRANT TO BUILD CITY'S FIRST
GREASE-TO-BIODIESEL FACILITY

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Mayor Gavin Newsom today announced the receipt of a $1 million California Energy Commission (CEC) grant to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) to build the City's first pilot grease-to-biodiesel production facility.

The facility will be sited at the SFPUC's Oceanside Sewage Treatment Plant, and is considered unique because it will attempt to create three grades of biodiesel from "brown grease", which are pan scrapings and washed oil residue trapped in grease traps/interceptors under a restaurant sink. There are more than 2.5 million gallons of brown grease in the city, compared with 1.5 million gallons of "yellow grease" like fryer oil. Biodiesel from grease is easily created using the cleaner yellow grease,
while brown grease is typically discarded at sewage treatment plants.

"Our program to turn waste cooking oil and yellow grease into biodiesel has been an enormous success, but San Francisco must continue to raise the bar when it comes to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and exploring alternative energies," said Mayor Newsom. "With this grant, our unique brown-grease-to-biodiesel plant will break new ground for sustainable fuel production in California and serve as a model for the entire state."

Brown grease can be refined and created into three "grades" of biodiesel:

High-grade American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) certified biodiesel for vehicles; Lower grade biofuel source for running sewage treatment plant diesel plant turbines and pumps; and Rich energy for cogeneration – the process of capturing methane gas at the sewage plant and converting that to heating/electrical needs.

The CEC is looking closely at this and similar projects to help cover California's anticipated one billion gallon shortfall of biodiesel by 2022. The shortfall is anticipated even with a growing number of yellow grease recycling programs like the SFGreasecycle, which the City launched in November 2007 to collect yellow grease from restaurants to fuel City vehicles, buses and fire trucks. The SFPUC, which manages the SFGreasecycle program, will also manage the brown grease pilot project. The construction of the brown grease biodiesel facility should be complete
in December 2008.

"Sewage treatment plants account for 3% of the nation's electrical consumption because they run 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said SFPUC General Manager Ed Harrington, "This brown-grease to biodiesel project is a win-win for our ratepayers and the environment. We'll keep more grease out of the sewers AND reduce our reliance on outside energy sources for our treatment plants."

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