We fry with it, we grill with it, we bake with it, we marinate with it, but these should not be our only uses of vegetable oil. Vegetable oils fatty nature allows for a chemical reaction which thereby creates energy. Atlanta’s most definitely in need of some cleaner energy, so let’s put this fatty oil to use!
But why should we be using vegetable oil when we obviously have other ways of generating energy? Well, emissions data provided by the city of Atlanta demonstrates how desperate they are for a solution.
Data from 2012 showed that Atlanta’s biggest contributor to emissions is stationary energy. Stationary energy (electricity) tallies out to be 50% of Atlanta’s emissions and 64% of that is used to power commercial buildings. With this major stationary energy problem, the Atlanta City Council decided to develop three potential paths in generating 100% clean energy.
The first plan is continuing what Atlanta’s doing now and just paying for renewable energy credits. Hence, Atlanta is asking other places to use clean energy for them. So, only 18% of Atlanta’s energy will come from clean energy sources. Then, they’ll fund a bunch of out-of-state wind farms.
Atlanta put’s in a little more effort toward the second plan where they’ll take advantage of 50% of Atlanta’s clean energy potential. So, 38% of electricity is provided by clean energy and they finance 15 out-of-state wind farms.
In the third plan, Atlanta takes advantage of all 4 million megawatts of clean energy that could be used by 2035. 90,000 homes would undergo energy renovations so they would be facing lots of change.
In terms of which plan is the best, there’s no right answer. All plans help our planet; however, I believe Atlanta should take matters into its own hands and utilize the third plan. Check out Atlanta’s plans to learn more about their benefits here.
When hearing about this, students from Emory University decided to further research Atlanta and its relation to the environment.
They put their statistical knowledge to use and they analyzed the results of these plans in the future. They began by utilizing data from 2009 and 2012 to find a steady population increase of 1.84%.
Afterward, they analyzed what would happen with to Atlanta in each of the paths if reductions started in 2020. As expected, with the 0% change, there is a steady increase in emissions. At the 50% plan, there is a decrease until 2035 and then an increase. Similarly, the 100% plan decreases then increases, but at a slower rate.
Yes, that may sound like a bunch of numbers and lines on a graph (which they are); however, these results show us what Atlanta’s future could look like depending on which path they take. And clearly, plan number three showed the least emissions for Atlanta.
After these brilliant Emory Students put their minds to work, I was inspired to as well. So, I researched some potential ways Atlanta could utilize clean energy and stumbled across a cleaner fuel alternative.
Remember the vegetable oil discussed earlier? Well, this is where it comes in handy. Vegetable oil can be utilized in a diesel engine, commonly known as biodiesel. According to the World Economic Forum, biodiesel from cooking oil can result in an 84% carbon footprint reduction in comparison with fossil diesel (diesel made from coal, oil, and natural gas).
Clean Energy Biofuels is currently the only company in Georgia utilizing used cooking oils as fuel. By popularizing this company, Atlanta could reduce a significant amount of its emissions.
So, before rinsing out the used oil at the bottom of your frying pan, recognize how it can be used to power your car!
Works Cited
“Clean Energy Atlanta.” Clean Energy Atlanta, 100atl.com/. Thorpe, David. “The First City Running Its Vehicles on Waste Cooking Oil.” World Economic
Forum, www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/02/the-first-city-running-its-vehicles-on-waste-cooking-oil/.
“Used Cooking Oil Collection Atlanta Conyers Douglasville Deluth Athens Decatur.” Used Cooking Oil Collection | Clean Energy Biofuels, Clean Energy Biofuels, cleanenergybiofuels.com/.
(The photograph was posted to Flickr by PSNH and can be found here. Licensing to this photograph can be found here. )
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