The United Arab Emirates have decided to look into a cleaner form of vehicle fuel.
And they’re getting their supply from the one of the world’s largest…restaurant chains?
Yes, it’s true – the waste oil that will be converted to biodiesel in the UAE is coming fresh from McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD).
In a venture of Neutral Group, an Abu Dhabi company, oil that has been used for cooking will be sent to a factory in Dubai, where 1 liter of oil can be converted to 1 liter of biodiesel.
The biodiesel will then be used to fuel all of the vehicles owned by UAE McDonalds’.
In December, the first phase of the process had occurred, and 12 vehicles were powered by the McDonald’s biodiesel.
This phase has been successful, and the biodiesel costs no more than the regular diesel did.
The best part? It won’t be partial biofuel. It’s not mixed with oil or some other fuel. It’s 100% biodiesel.
This will cut carbon emissions, at least from McDonald’s Corporation, by a large amount.
The 80 UAE McDonald’s restaurants should be able to provide around 20,000 liters a year to the project. That’s about 5,280 gallons.
And McDonald’s provides a standard for the oil that assures the factory of quality and quantity.
“We know how much oil we’re going to get from them and the quality we’re going to get,” said Neutral Group chairman Karl Feilder. “If we started to get this from all over the place in the UAE you’d get all kinds of problems.”
McDonald’s oil is reliable in its minimal animal fat and water content, even in the waste oil, according to Middle Eastern website Al Bawaba.
This is the first venture of this kind in the UAE, and so research is still underway. But it’s a very promising venture, especially after success in the initial phase.
Could McDonald’s provide the next revolution in green vehicle fuel?
That’s all for now,
Brianna
