"After it's in the fry-a-lator we'll take it out, cool it down, and then put it in a receptacle for collection and using in the generator"
I've worked restaurants, and that is a great idea!
"Whole Foods' canola oil isn't just for cooking: It makes electricity, too; Reuse plan will power commissary that supplies 43 stores" by Erin Ailworth, Globe Staff | December 1, 2008
EVERETT - In the Whole Foods Market Inc. commissary a few blocks from Route 99, the same canola oil that's being used to fry Asian shrimp balls and popcorn chicken will soon help power the walk-in freezer and the overhead lights.
The viscous chardonnay-colored liquid already flows throughout most of the plant, where employees prepare food sold in the region's Whole Foods stores. It starts in a 275-gallon bin on the second floor, slides down a pipe, and gushes through a spigot in the "cold kitchen." Commissary chefs turn a tap to get oil for salad dressings and hummus, or for deep-frying in the "hot kitchen."
By next year, a generator that's powered by the used cooking oil will provide all the electricity needed here - about 2 million kilowatt hours a year. Each week, about 1,200 gallons of oil go into making the more than 240,000 pounds of prepared food items that customers will buy at 43 stores in Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, and New Jersey.
"By us being able to do this, it's approximately the same electricity that 200 households would use. So we're helping take that stress off the [regional power] grid," said Kathy Loftus, who oversees sustainable engineering, maintenance, and energy for the Texas-based supermarket chain.
The cooking-oil generator, which will hook into the plant's electricity distribution system and operate in tandem with National Grid's utility lines, is expected to save Whole Foods at least 20 percent of the commissary's energy and waste costs, which the company declined to detail.
Erin O'Brien, a spokeswoman for ISO New England, which operates the regional power grid, said efforts like e Foods help maintain grid reliability, slow the growth of demand for electricity, and lessen the volatility of prices....
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During a recent walk-through at the plant's massive kitchens, Chris Austin, North Atlantic kitchens facility team leader for Whole Foods, traced the crucial role oil already plays.
"Michael over here is frying up popcorn chicken," Austin said, referring to one of the cooks. "After it's in the fry-a-lator we'll take it out, cool it down, and then put it in a receptacle for collection and using in the generator."
For now, the used oil - which the commissary is also collecting from Whole Foods stores - is being stored in 55-gallon drums....
Environmental advocate Seth Kaplan, who works with the Conservation Law Foundation, which has offices throughout New England, said he thinks such efforts - on a large or a small scale - play well with consumers concerned about climate change and other environmental problems....
Why do they have to drag the "climate change" issue into it?
And is it just me, or once again a person working in the lying, agenda-pushing field is a... ?
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