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Cambridgeshire latest to launch collection service with Living Fuels
Councillor Sir Peter Brown cuts the green ribbon to open Cambridge County Council’s used oil collection scheme. On the left is Cambridgeshire Waste Operations Manager Nick Tempest.
Cambridgeshire is the latest county council to launch a used cooking oil collection scheme for the benefit of all householders.
Councillor Sir Peter Brown cut the green ribbon to ‘open’ a 1000-litre Living Fuels collection bank at Bluntisham Recycling Centre near Huntingdon. He was joined by Living Fuels Operations Manager Gordon Gardner in pouring first supplies of used oil into the bank, and a member of the public with three bottles of used oil was hard on their heels.
Similar collection banks at nine other Cambridgeshire recycling centres came into use at the same time.
The scheme is a partnership between Cambridgeshire County Council, Living Fuels, Donarbon Waste Management and Anglian Water.
Sir Peter is Lead Member for Economy, Environment and Climate Change at Cambridgeshire County Council.
“We are excited to be working with Living Fuels, Donarbon and Anglian Water on this important project,” he said. “We are always looking for innovative ways to recycle Cambridgeshire’s waste, and we know that residents and the environment will benefit from this convenient service.”
The collection bank at Bluntisham Recycling Centre near Huntingdon receives its first used cooking oil from Sir Peter Brown (left) and Living Fuels Operations Manager Gordon Gardner.
Living Fuels Commercial Director Adrian Venni commented: “We are really happy to be working with the county council to offer this exciting new service to Cambridgeshire residents.
“Throwing away used cooking oil is a problem for two reasons – it clogs up drains and sewers, and it contains unused energy which we cannot afford to waste. This initiative solves both problems at a stroke.”
Collette Nicholls of Anglian Water said: “We are delighted that Cambridgeshire County Council has taken this move. We applaud initiatives which help stop any food waste going down the sink, and we hope that our customers in Cambridgeshire will take up this opportunity to recycle their waste cooking oil.”
The 10 used cooking oil collection banks in Cambridgeshire add to the 36 already installed by Living Fuels at county council recycling centres in Norfolk and Suffolk. Living Fuels collects the used oil at no cost.
Anglia TV news presenter Emma Baker interviews Don Whiting of Living Fuels – and joins the queue to deposit used cooking oil for recycling.
Living Fuels supports Suffolk collection scheme
The first bottles of used cooking oil are poured into a new collection bank at Suffolk County Council’s Foxhall Road recycling centre in Ipswich (left to right); Councillor Eddy Alcock, Portfolio Holder for the Environment and Waste Management, Suffolk County Council; Gordon Gardner, Operations Manager, Living Fuels; Mark Deer, HWRC Services Manager, Suffolk County Council; Sara Rowland, Media Manager, Anglian Water; and Nigel Minter, Customer Response Manager, Anglian Water.
Householders throughout Suffolk now have the same chance as their neighbours in Norfolk to dispose of their used cooking oil safely and generate clean electricity for business and domestic use.
Living Fuels is supplying collection tanks to all 18 waste recycling centres in Suffolk, and on March 7th Suffolk County Council launched the new service at its Foxhall Road recycling centre in Ipswich.
Councillor Eddy Alcock, Portfolio Holder for the Environment and Waste Management, said: “This will help to protect the environment and generate green electricity. The initiative means we now have a real solution to used cooking oil disposal rather than sending it to expensive landfill or wrongly putting it down the drains.”
Norfolk was the first county to partner Living Fuels when a similar collection service was introduced at recycling centres across the county in December.
Living Fuels makes collections free of charge from 1,000 suppliers including food manufacturers, restaurant, hotels and schools, and is currently receiving 80,000 litres of used cooking oil a week.
Through a unique process at its plant in Hockwold (Norfolk), Living Fuels purifies this waste vegetable oil, converting it into LF100 which has been chosen by a major renewables group to generate clean electricity.
The amount of LF100 currently being produced is capable of generating electricity for the equivalent of 5,700 households.
Adrian Venni, Managing Director of Living Fuels, said: “The process which we have developed is in direct response to the biggest environmental issue of all, the emission of carbon dioxide through the generation of electricity from fossil fuels.
“The level of response from householders in Norwich is well ahead of expectations. I understand that residents of Norfolk and Suffolk make more than three million visits a year to their recycling centres, and if they brought in a litre of used cooking oil on every visit it would be possible to generate power for the equivalent of a further 4,000 or more households.
“I am pleased to say that we are in discussions with other counties and boroughs to set up similar partnerships.”
Living Fuels Managing Director Adrian Venni pictured at the Suffolk launch (left and centre) with Councillor Eddy Alcock, Portfolio Holder for the Environment and Waste Management and HWRC Services Manager Mark Deer. On the right Living Fuels Operations Manager Gordon Gardner is pictured with Anna Kowalczyk, Suffolk County Council Recycling Support Officer.
Collections reach 80,000 litres per week
Please don’t throw away used cooking oil.
- It clogs up drains and sewers, causing water companies to spend millions of pounds clearing up the mess
- It contains unused energy which we cannot afford to waste
Living Fuels is currently collecting 80,000 litres of used cooking oil a week . When recycled and purified to form LF100, this fuel is capable of generating clean electricity for businesses and homes.
No secrets any more
Living Fuels Business Development Manager Andrew Clark (right) chats to visitors to our stand at Expo Ed 2008
It was one thing developing and perfecting the process of converting used cooking oil into electricity.
It took belief, initiative, invention and patience – and went on quietly behind closed doors.
But that’s all in the past. We now have a duty to make it work, especially with the county councils and other organisations partnering us in this scheme.
That’s why we exhibited on March 11th at Expo Ed 2008 at the Burgess Hall in St Ives, Cambridgeshire.
This important exhibition, organised jointly by Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation (ESPO) and Cambridgeshire County Council, is for schools and local government.
It was attended primarily by Cambridgeshire schools, but there were also visitors from surrounding local education authorities including Peterborough, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.
The exhibition stand featured a diagram showing the lifecycle of vegetable oil – a lifecycle now extended by the invention of LF100 and the generation of clean electricity.
The same story has been graphically told in a new booklet produced by Living Fuels, copies of which are available free of charge – please get in touch.
Living Fuels, which collects used cooking oil from nearly 500 schools, joined a range of other suppliers to schools and local education authorities at the exhibition organised jointly by Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation and Cambridgeshire County Council. On the right Living Fuels Managing Director Adrian Venni is interviewed in front of a display showing how we have extended the life of cooking oil to generate clean electricity.
Before and after – down below
You have every right to be squeamish – this is what happens in sewers when people pour their used cooking oil and other fats down the drain. It has to be cleared at huge cost.
In case anyone needs convincing about not throwing used cooking oil down the drain, just look at these dramatic pictures supplied by Anglian Water who spend more than £5 million a year cleaning up the mess.
This shows a typical scene beneath street level as deposits build up. It has to be dealt with so that waste material can actually get through to purification plants.
The second picture shows the same sewer clear again with a normal flow restored. Let’s all help keep it that way.
Collette Nicholls of Anglian Water commented: “We have been campaigning to raise awareness about the threat that fats, oils and grease from kitchens pose to the environment when they get into the sewer.
“We applaud initiatives which help to stop any food waste going down the sink, and we hope that our customers will take up this opportunity to recycle their waste cooking oil.”
Adrian Venni added: “We ask people to support this initiative, and in doing so to support county councils and Anglian Water in their efforts to reduce costly pollution.”
This is the same sewer as in the picture above after a clean-up. But it’s perfectly preventable in the first place
500 schools help create clean electricity
It’s Friday lunchtime, and this Norfolk school is expecting the usual high demand for fish and chips. The food is beautifully presented and much appreciated by pupils and staff. And Living Fuels appreciates being able to collect used cooking oil from the kitchens and taking it was for recycling and purification.
School catering departments are not only implementing new food standards - they are also becoming more strategic in the way they use their waste.
Nearly 500 schools in East Anglia and surrounding counties have decided they want to do more with their used cooking oil than simply dispose of it safely.
They are supplying their used oil to Living Fuels who purify it so that it can be used again to generate green electricity.
The number of schools taking part in the scheme is increasing month by month, and the used oil they supply contributes to the four million litres now being processed by Living Fuels per annum.
This is capable of generating electricity for the equivalent of 5,700 households.
Adrian Venni, Managing Director of Living Fuels, said: “Schools and other suppliers can recycle their used oil with us in the knowledge that it is purified and put to another use without the addition of any supplements or chemicals.
“That’s important because in the main biofuels are blends of vegetable and fossil fuels made through a variety of chemical processes.
“Every drop of LF100 – that’s what we call our new fuel – is made of purified vegetable oil. Nothing else.
“The purity and sustainability of LF100 distinguishes it from all other biofuels, and the big bonus is that it generates electricity for businesses and homes.
“The generation of electricity from traditional fossil fuels is the major contributor of C02 emissions in the UK, and together we can play a part in reducing this atmospheric pollution.
“The staff and pupils of the schools already signed up to give us their used cooking oil can be proud to be part of a clean and productive conclusion to what has undoubtedly been a very sticky problem,” he added.
On current reduced use of cooking oil in school kitchens, one collection per term is likely to be sufficient. However this is not a limit - Living Fuels will call as often as needed.
For collections, call Living Fuels on:
Tel 01842 828395
Mob 07703 118034
Please remember, if used cooking oil is released to any other operator, it will reduce the amount of clean electricity which can be generated through this unique scheme.
We are most grateful to Fakenham High School and College in Norfolk who allowed us in on the day we made a regular collection of used cooking oil.
The pictures (below) help to tell the story
Media target Norfolk’s ‘powerful green solution’
Launch day at Ketteringham recycling centre near Norwich where the public had their first experience of pouring their used cooking oil into one of the new collection banks.
Among the first to use the service were (left to right) Gordon Gardner and Adrian Venni, Operations Manager and Managing Director of Living Fuels, and Ian Monson, Norfolk County Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Waste.
So it really is big news.
- Used cooking oil contains unreleased energy
- Instead of it being a troublesome waste it can be refined into a useful fuel
- The world’s No 1 source of CO2 emissions is electricity generation
- Therefore Living Fuels has developed LF100 which powers electricity generators
The media – press, radio and television - crowded into a recycling centre near Norwich to see what Norfolk County Council meant by its headline:
‘Powerful green solution means less drain on the environment’
They filmed, recorded and photographed bottles of used cooking oil being emptied into a bright new container supplied by Living Fuels – one of 18 installed at the county council’s recycling centres across the county.
Then two BBC crews insisted on going straight on to the Living Fuels HQ at Freedom Farm, Hockwold to see what happens next. They wanted to demonstrate to their listeners and viewers that a generator at the site, powered by LF100, is successfully producing green electricity around the clock.
They saw used cooking oil being delivered to the Living Fuels unit and LF100 emerging from despatch.
And the latest update is that Living Fuels has applied to patent its unique refining process, invented by the company’s founder Adrian Venni.
The Living Power decentralized model
The generator at Freedom Farm, the Living Fuels headquarters at Hockwold, is based on the model of decentralized electricity generation being pioneered by sister company Living Power. It generates approximately 3,500 Megawatt hours of green electricity per annum.
Living Power is meeting a growing demand for decentralized, carbon-neutral electricity at industrial and commercial sites. To understand the impact of the Freedom Farm generator, it is important to know the latest DTI household electricity consumption figures. They show that in a typical year households in the UK use an average of 4.6MWh of electricity.
On that basis the output from the Hockwold generator is equivalent to the annual needs of approximately 760 homes.
A quarter of this generator’s power is used industrially to power all operations at Freedom Farm, and the balance goes into the local electricity distribution network which serves the Hockwold and Brandon area.
At the 2001 census Hockwold had 521 households; the electricity exported by Living Fuels into the distribution network is equivalent to the annual needs of approximately 570 households.
Double first for Norfolk
Norfolk’s new collection banks for used cooking oil were prepared at Living Fuels at Hockwold before being distributed to 18 recycling centres across the county.
Making their final inspection are (left to right) Dan Jacobs (Norfolk County Council Recycling Centre Technician), Richard Alexander (Commercial Contract Manager, Environmental Waste Controls) and Adrian Venni (Managing Director, Living Fuels).
The news from Norfolk represents a double first for the county.
- Living Fuels is the first company in the UK to perfect the refining of LF100 used cooking oil and generate green electricity
- Norfolk County Council is the first local authority in the UK to set up collection points at all its public recycling centres – 18 in all – to enable all householders in the county to dispose of their used cooking oil safely
Awareness is growing and the amount of used cooking oil collected by Living Fuels continues to grow month by month.
Climate change – deeds not words
Bottles of used cooking oil are being poured into the new collection banks by the public at Norfolk’s recycling centres.
Ian Monson, Norfolk County Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Waste, said: “This service is a real breakthrough, the latest in a series of improvements at Norfolk’s Recycling Centres to make it easier for the public to recycle even more.
“We’re delighted to be able to offer a local solution to a waste that has been very difficult to get rid of, particularly in small amounts. To know it can produce green electricity is a tremendous bonus.”
Living Fuels founder Adrian Venni, added: “Throwing away used cooking oil is wasteful and damaging to the planet. The need to do so has been removed at a stroke, and at the same time everyone now has the chance to generate the raw material for the generation of green electricity and reduction of emissions.
“At Living Fuels we have been collecting waste oil from responsible food processors and restaurants, transforming it into a clean source of fresh energy.
“This has been a great way to help producers stop having to treat used oil as a polluting waste.
“Recently we have teamed up with Renewable Energy Generation, a large company listed on the London Stock exchange, and this is enabling us to spread what we do to a significantly wider public.
“We are delighted that we can now help the people of Norfolk through the actions of Norfolk County Council.
“As the world grapples with the threat of climate change this is a wonderful example of deeds not words.”
Living Fuels joined by major renewables company
Twenty per cent of Living Fuels has been sold to REG Bio-Power UK Ltd, a subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange AIM-listed Renewable Energy Generation Ltd (‘REG’).
The REG Group was established in May 2005 to provide investors with an opportunity to participate in the growth of the global renewable energy market, predominantly in wind energy projects.
REG has two operating subsidiaries in wind energy – the UK-based Cornwall Light & Power Co Ltd (‘CLP’), and AIM PowerGen Corp (‘APG’) which is based in Toronto, Canada.
CLP currently operates four wind projects in Cornwall, Denbighshire, Cumbria and County Durham with a total capacity of 16MW. Another 30 projects are in various stages of development, with a total capacity of approximately 200MW.
APG is one of Canada’s largest independent wind developers with rights over 2,200MW of potential wind projects in Canada.
REG Managing Director Andrew Whalley said: “We are absolutely delighted that used vegetable cooking oil is now entering our renewables portfolio.
“Used oils will be purified utilising an established process and will then be used to generate power that qualifies for Renewable Obligation Certificates.
“With an already-established ‘pipeline’ of used oils from catering organisations in the public and private sector, the economics of this operation are most attractive and this project should contribute to Group earnings next year.
“The potential of used vegetable cooking oil power is significant, and this and other forms of biomass will complement our established wind business in the UK.”
Seven year contract to supply oil banks throughout Norfolk
Norfolk’s fleet of used cooking oil collection banks in tight formation at Living Fuels before dispersing across the county. At the controls were (left to right) Dan Jacobs (Norfolk County Council Recycling Centre Technician), Adrian Venni (Managing Director of Living Fuels) and Richard Alexander (Commercial Contract Manager, Environmental Waste Controls)
Thirty years after bottle banks first appeared in Britain, Living Fuels is set to introduce neighbourhood oil banks to enable householders to deposit used vegetable cooking oil safely and free of charge.
Living Fuels, based near Thetford in Norfolk, already recycles used cooking oils from local authorities, caterers and restaurant chains to produce biofuel used in the generation of electricity for businesses and homes.
The service is being introduced throughout Norfolk on behalf of Norfolk County Council. Eighteen bright yellow containers will be positioned around the county, and will be collected and emptied on a regular basis.
“Each of these oil banks can take 1400 litres, and we will empty them as often as required,” said Living Fuels Managing Director Adrian Venni.
“We are happy to provide the service because used cooking oil is our raw material,” he continued. “To me it is shocking that a form of oil capable of producing substantial quantities of clean electricity can be thrown away.
“Use of reprocessed cooking oil in electricity generation reduces carbon emissions, and this initiative means that everyone can play a part in building Britain’s renewable energy capacity.”
Living Fuels appoints Logistics Manager
Nationwide growth in the number of businesses and organisations supplying used cooking oil to Living Fuels has led to the appointment of the company’s first Logistics Manager.
Peter Vigus will manage collections from all over the UK, maintaining all documentation and administration for Living Fuels, its customers and the Environment Agency.
Living Fuels has also launched a recruitment campaign to build a team of regional representatives. Their role will be to raise awareness of the process and to assist businesses that would like to dispose of their used cooking oil free of charge through Living Fuels.
