Turning Old Oil Into New Mileage

Interest in hunting garbage piles for any reusables – a common job in the developing world – has spread to wealthier nations, attracting attention and innovation awards from the world’s most elite universities. Students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology have taken the notion one step further. Working with catadores cooperatives in Brazil, a MIT biodiesel team started a project called Green Grease in Brazil, to collect and filter cooking oil for use in converted garbage trucks, explains MIT’s David Chandler. Relying on equipment with collected parts from garbage dumps, the teams reduce fuel costs for the cooperatives. The project was assisted by MIT’s Community Innovators Lab, which develops new technologies for underserved communities. Eventually with more equipment, Brazilians could skip the truck conversions and directly convert the oil into biodiesel, as students do at MIT facilities. The students and catadores envision encouraging small-business startups and transforming unwanted, used cooking oil into a valuable commodity. – YaleGlobal