circular fuel economy seeks to reduce carbon intensity with used cooking oil

Chevron has teamed up with Restaurant Technologies, Inc. to grow the circular fuel economy.

By repurposing used cooking oil to fuel truck fleets, the program aims to help customers—including restaurants, grocery stores and hotels—reduce waste.

“It’s another way for us to participate in reducing our carbon footprint,” said Diana Geseking, Restaurant Technologies general counsel.

A circular fuel economy is a system in which waste from one process is used as fuel for another. The idea is to simultaneously reduce waste and increase resource use.

“We sell fresh cooking oil to our customers, and then we turn around and collect the used cooking oil, which gets delivered to Chevron Renewable Energy Group to be converted into biodiesel,” Geseking said. “Then at our Des Moines Depot, we are using that biodiesel in our fleet to have a positive impact.”

The program’s goal is to assist customers in reducing their environmental impact.

Historically, used cooking oil was sent to landfills. But in the case of the circular fuel economy:

• Restaurant Technologies collects used cooking oil from a restaurant.
• That used cooking oil is transported from Restaurant Technologies depots to a processing facility.
• The processing facility converts it into lower carbon intensity fuels like biodiesel and renewable diesel.
• Chevron delivers the renewable lower carbon intensity fuel to Restaurant Technologies Des Moines depot.
• Restaurant Technologies uses the lower carbon intensity fuel in its fleet.

“We started a pilot trial in our fleet in Des Moines, Iowa,” Geseking said. “At that depot, we are using biodiesel, but when we expand to California, it will be renewable diesel.”

The program—French Fries to Fuel—has assisted customers in lowering their carbon intensity.

A leading provider of cooking oil management, Restaurant Technologies has partnered with Renewable Energy Group which Chevron acquired in June 2022 for more than a decade.

The company’s work to promote the circular fuel economy is an important part of its efforts to make the food service industry more sustainable and efficient.