OKI Electric Industry Co. announced it has started to recycle waste oil from its cafeteria in Hachioji, Tokyo to be used as biodiesel fuel for the trucks of its logistics operations.
Project Transportation Co., a partner company of OKI Logistics Co., Ltd., is working together with G.O. Food Service Co., Ltd., who operates OKI's cafeterias. The two companies have signed an agreement to reuse cooking oil and have started recycling from April 2008.
"OKI Group has been implementing various activities to reduce environmental burden such as recycling our used uniforms. Now, to help contribute in a greener future, we are refining used oil from our cafeteria into biodiesel fuel, a clean burning alternative fuel," said Masataka Sase, Senior Vice President of Oki Electric Industry and General Manager of OKI's Global Environment Division. "Going forward, we will continue to reduce our environmental burden by actively implementing the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) through activities such as controlling waste and recycling water."
Biodiesel gasoline, today considered as a viable alternative fuel, is refined from vegetable oil, specifically from the used cooking oil from homes and cafeterias which conventionally was thrown away. The biodiesel also is a biomass energy source as follows:
Zero count for CO2 emission
Vegetable oil is made from coleseed and soy beans, which absorb CO2 through photosynthesis while they grow. Therefore the net amount of CO2 generated from production and use of biodiesel gas does not increase, but rather remains neutral (real count rate: zero) in the biodiesel life cycle.
Less than one-third black smoke emission
Biodiesel fuel has a higher firing point than that of light gas oil, which enables complete combustion, generating less than one-third the black smoke produced by burning light gas oil.
Significant decrease of sulfur oxide
The auto exhaust from biodiesel includes little sulfur oxide (SOx), which is said to be the cause of atopy and acid rain.
No need to remodel vehicles
When changing from light gas oil to biodiesel fuel, there is no need to remodel vehicle engines, but simply make changes to the vehicle inspection certificate to register dual fuel use- i.e. "also uses waste and food oil."
Light gas oil tax is non-taxable
If the fuel is 100% biodiesel, it is non-taxable because it is not considered hydrocarbon oil.
