Gallery: San Francisco Announces 10 Mi...

Hot on the heels of San Francisco‘s recent celebration of locally-sourced Slow Food, Mayor Gavin Newsom announced a new plan to provide the city by the bay with a local source for sustainable fuel. On Friday the Mayor revealed a proposal between Darling International and the Port of San Francisco to retrofit an old rendering facility to produce biofuel. The new plant will recycle fats, waste grease, and tallow to generate 7.5-10 million gallons of biodiesel per year!

San Francisco’s proposed biodiesel plant would be situated within on old rendering facility in the Hunter’s Point district owned by Darling International. Under the plan the facility will be renovated to turn grease waste into useable, sustainable energy. Although the agreement has not yet been signed, it is expected that the city will purchase the fuel to cut down on shipments from the Midwest while feeding San Francisco’s biodiesel fleet of 1,500 vehicles.

Mayor Gavin Newsom has stated that:

“This facility will serve as a model for cities throughout the world who aim to reduce their carbon footprint and transform their grease waste into useable, sustainable energy. Turning waste generated by local restaurants and other businesses into a sustainable fuel source is yet another major step in reaching our goals of carbon neutrality for City Government by 2020, zero emission public transit by 2020, a 75% recycling rate by 2010, and zero waste in 2020.”

Lead Photo Credit: Patrick Boury (photostream)

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