Run with the herd: Calgary looks at beef-tallow biodiesel for its fleet
Last Updated: Thursday, January 29, 2009 | 2:54 PM ET
CBC News
The City of Calgary's entire fleet of trucks and buses may soon be partly fueled by biodiesel produced from Alberta beef tallow.
Tallow is all that's left over after an animal has been processed. The city has been experimenting with tallow from the meat-packing plant in High River, Alta., as part efforts to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
"Anywhere you've got the packing industry, you have a tremendous amount of animal waste that's left over — all of that is perfect for digesting into a biofuel," said Dave Day, the city's environmental director.
Not only is the tallow in ready supply locally, turning it into biofuel recycles a product that would normally be thrown away, he said.
Tallow-waste biofuel is also more ethical than other alternative fuels, since it does not displace food crops such as corn, which is used in the production of ethanol, he said.
"They [council] just don't want us supporting a product that, while it's attractive on the environment side, is associated with a lot of harmful results on the ethical side," Day said.
The tallow biofuel is mixed with regular diesel in different amounts, depending on the season, he said.
Although the tallow fuel costs more than regular diesel, the city does not have to base all its decisions solely on economics, said Ald. Linda Fox-Melway, who heads the utilities and environment committee.
"I think we're leaders in this," she said. "We're setting an example for what can happen environmentally and I think it's really important we do that."
Day will present a full report on the beef tallow fuel pilot project to council in October.
