Davao jeeps, garbage trucks running on ‘used cooking oil’

BIODIESEL PLANT. City Administrator Zuleika Lopez (left), Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte (third from left), State Minister for Foreign Affairs Kazuyuki Nakane (fourth from left) along with the Japanese Embassy lead the formal launching of the Biodiesel Fuel Plant in Maa, Davao City on Friday, Aug. 25. (Robby Joy D. Salveron/davaotoday.com)

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – That cooking oil you no longer use in the kitchen could fuel vehicles and mitigate the effects of climate change.

Some 30 public utility jeepneys and 10 government-owned trucks here are being used to test a novel way of recycling used cooking oil by having vehicles run on it.

Used cooking oil is the main ingredient of a biodiesel fuel manufactured by a joint project between Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Biomass Japan Inc. and the city government. The biodiesel fuel plant in Maa, this city, was launched on Friday, August 26.

Shigeto Mizumoto, a representative of Biomass Japan Inc., said the project aims to reduce air and water pollution in the city since biodiesel is categorized as “clean fuel”, with 47 percent less of particulate matter (PM) and sulphur oxide emission.

“We’re also trying to preserve the environment and we educate the people not to waste any materials,” he said.

City to integrate biodiesel

The used cooking oil are collected from households in different barangays, ambulant vendors and business establishments in Davao, said City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) Department Head Engr. Elisa Madrazo.

“Instead of throwing away the used cooking oil to sinks, sewages or anywhere, people should rather keep and give it to barangay captains or to the designated collection points in their barangay,” she explained.

While the actual benefits and cost of this project is yet to be studied, Madrazo said this is aimed to augment the fuel budget intended for waste collection vehicles in the city.

Prior to the launching, some waste pick-up trucks have already been running on biodiesel, without reported problems, she said.(davaotoday.com)