Tokyo, Nov 21: Kyodo Hitachi Zosen Corp. has developed a way to recycle used edible oil as an environmentally-friendly bio-diesel fuel that emits less than half the soot and particles emitted by regular bio-diesel fuel.
The system will be adopted by the Kyoto municipal government from April 2004 for use in city-operated vehicles, the Japan-based company said.
Since it will be made from vegetable oil, the carbon dioxide emitted from the bio-diesel fuel will not be counted as greenhouse gases as stipulated by the Kyoto Protocol that seeks to curb global warming.
The Kyoto Municipal government estimates that by using the bio-diesel fuel, Kyoto will be able to reduce its carbon dioxide output by around 4,000 tons a year compared with if it used regular diesel oil.
With Hitachi Zosen's new technology, sulfur, as well as glycerin that is emitted from bio-diesel fuel and which often causes blockage when used in diesel engines, can be reduced to less than half the amount emitted from conventional bio-diesel fuel, the company said.
The Kyoto municipal government will build a facility using the technology at its garbage plant in Fushimi ward.
The facility, to cost around 420 million yen, will start operations in April 2004, with the capacity to recycle a maximum of around 5,000 liters of oil per day.
Currently, the Kyoto Municipal government collects used oil from households and has the private sector recycle it as bio-diesel fuel, which is used in 75 city-run buses and 220 garbage collection vehicles. The government will switch to the new fuel when new facility starts operating. Bureau Report