This is a timely topic for me, as I am involved in a project at work to use WVO. For us, it comes down to opportunity, availability and basic economics.
We run a small fleet of four Freightliner rigs that we use to transfer product between four stores in the southern CT - NY area. For FY07, our diesel bill was over $200K. Based upon current trends, we expect that bill will be around 20-25% higher for '08.
We also use a considerable amount of vegetable oil for food production in each of our stores. In each store, we have separate production areas that make: fried chicken; chicken wings; french fries; potato chips; donuts; Chinese food. Our VO is changed at least daily at each fry station, so we generate a lot of WVO every day. Another factor to note is that we saw that cost of VO increase about 18% least year.
In the past, we paid a renderer to come in and take away our WVO. Then, we got to the point where the renderer would take it away for free. Now, we are paid for our WVO. Our used oil is considered to be very high quality for use in diesel vehicles. We use only non-hydrogenated oil; each one of our fry stations produces one product only; the used oil from each production area is collected and stored separately.
We know that using WVO will not completely eliminate our need to purchase diesel. However, right now, the economics favor that the cost of conversion and the cost of collection, filtration and processing can easily be recouped by the cost-avoidance of purchasing diesel fuel. Perhaps if the commodity price of WVO increases to the point where it is more economical to sell it, we'll revisit our position. But, using our own WVO has significant
PR benefits that also needs to be factored into our decisions.
BTW, Jake and I have been having an exchange on this topic via PM. He is very knowledgeable and experienced in this area. There is so much bull***** being peddled about this on the Internet, it is nice to have a someone that can comment and speak from experience to guide you.