BlackGold is building a network of FOG wastewater receiving and processing facilities throughout the US and Canada. BlackGold’s satellite receiving facilities process the material into an intermediate product, which is then converted into biodiesel at centralized facilities, allowing waste to be aggregated from a broad geographic area while minimizing environmental and financial freight costs.

FOG-laden wastewater from grease traps or vactor trucks is separated into clean water, trash solids, and dry FOG. The FOG is chemically converted into biofuel. The biofuel then undergoes several polishing steps to remove contaminants and separate it into glycerin, biobunker fuel, and biodiesel. The biodiesel meets the national quality standard, ASTM D6751, and the EPA’s ultra low sulfur requirements. Biodiesel is a low-carbon, domestic renewable fuel than can be used just like petroleum diesel.

Conversion to biodiesel is the highest and best use for FOG. With energy recovery at close to 80%, the economic trajectory and fungibility of a liquid transportation fuel, the ability to meet EPA’s Sulfur limits for on-road and stationary applications, and a federal renewable fuel standard providing insulation against market dips, biodiesel is the only beneficial reuse with the long-term stability that the pumping and food service industries require to reliably conduct business. Most often, FOG waste is landfilled or land applied, which has no beneficial value. Low-value beneficial reuses such as anaerobic digestion or direct use as industrial fuel face major challenges as natural gas prices dip, efficiencies plague recovery, and upcoming regulations test an already volatile market.