The following is an excerpt from Yifei Zhang | July 11, 2012 | ibtimes.com |
Instead of causing cancer, China’s “gutter oil” may soon be getting a chance to help save the planet.
Used cooking oil in China — when collected from waste and refuse, it is known as “digou you”, or literally “gutter oil” — has created controversies in the past when sold illegally back to restaurants and companies to be used for human consumption.
However, recycled oils in China may soon be subject to a sophisticated multistep refining treatment to be turned into high-grade fuel for jet aircraft. The process emits considerably less carbon and reduces dependency on petroleum.
But it’s not domestic Chinese firms that are taking this opportunity to soar from the sewers into the skies. Instead, a European aviation fuel company called SkyNRG may be making this bold step in repurposing waste into economic gains.
Western and Chinese news media initially erroneously reported on Wednesday that KLM Royal Dutch Airlines would buy some 2,000 metric tons of used cooking oil from companies in Shanghai, later to be refined into aviation fuel.
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