Oceanside Sewage Treatment Plant Site Visit

Members of the BlackGold Biofuels team met today with San Francisco Public Utilities Commission project engineers at Oceanside Treatment Plant in San Francisco. The team surveyed the site, reviewed key layout parameters, and discussed various site-specific optimization opportunities. The equipment installation will be extremely simple, by design; essentially only requiring connection to utilities at a single location on the skid. Since the skid-mounted processing equipment will be fabricated offsite, the team will likely not return to the treatment plant until installation in the fall. After hundreds of hours on the phone, everyone was excited to finally meet in person.

San Francisco Mayor, EPA Announce Partnership with BlackGold Biofuels

Members of the BlackGold Biofuels Team pose with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, members of the Public Utilities Commission, the California Energy Commission, and other project partners at the press conference.

On Feb 4th, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, EPA, and California Energy Commission held a press conference announcing the first commercial-scale brown grease to biodiesel facility in the country. After an international search, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission selected BlackGold Biofuels’ conversion technology for the project. The City has purchased a technology license and associated processing equipment from BlackGold that will be utilized at its award-winning Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant.

By November 2009, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SF PUC) will produce biodiesel at a rate of 100,000 gallons per year exclusively from this sewer trap grease (a rancid grease generically referred to as “brown grease”). The SF PUC is pioneering this small installation as a model for public and private sewage treatment plants, and through a grant from EPA will develop a toolkit to facilitate implementation of this technology at cities across the nation. BlackGold is poised for rapid growth as San Francisco markets this technology to other municipalities as part of their grant.

San Francisco estimates that grease blockages in San Francisco sewers account for 50% of all sewer emergencies and annually costs the City $3.5 million in cleanings. Creating an incentive to keep grease out of the sewers should greatly reduce that figure. But even this massive savings is dwarfed by cost savings related to reducing wear and tear on the sewer infrastructure. Grease blockages are removed by jetting, chipping, even jackhammering, abrasive actions that reduce sewer line lifespan. According to SF Public Utilities Commission consultant Biofuel Recycling, the sewer system is the City’s largest linear asset, worth approximately $9.5 Billion. Biofuel Recycling estimates that conservatively, clearing blockages reduces infrastructure lifespan by 0.5%. Therefore grease blockages are costing the City approximately $24 Million a year in reduced infrastructure lifespan.

Converting this grease into biodiesel not only solves a pollution problem and reduces operations and maintenance costs, it provides fuel for the PUC. The conversion by-products can be utilized in other processes at the treatment plant.

Read the full Press Release on MSNBC.

BlackGold Biofuels Presents at National Biodiesel Board Conference

BlackGold Biofuels presented in the National Biodiesel Conference technical track session 33, “Sustainable Production Technologies.” Black Gold was selected for its pioneering work with brown grease.

The National Biodiesel Board defines sustainability as “meeting today’s needs in terms of environmental stewardship, economic prosperity, and quality of life without compromising future generations’ ability of to meet these needs for themselves.” Using BlackGold’s model for converting brown grease to biodiesel provides multiple sustainability advantages in terms of this triple bottom line (planet, profit, people).

Grease is a leading cause of sewer overflows, which cost municipalities millions in fines, damage public and private property, and release untreated contaminants into the watershed. Beneficial reuse for this grease creates incentives to keep grease traps properly maintained, reducing overflows. For biodiesel producers, raw materials comprise about 75% of production costs; starting with a low or negative-value, material translates into an ability to make fuel for a much lower cost. Reducing municipal costs and making renewable fuel production more profitable and affordable is always in favor, creating jobs and value to ratepayers. Using a local resource to help meet local energy needs increases energy security and strengthens the local economy, creating green collar jobs. And of course, biodiesel is a low-carbon, renewable alternative to conventional diesel fuel; addition to reducing dangerous emissions, it reduces our reliance on foreign petroleum.

Landsburg in NBB General Session

As part of the Tuesday General Session of the National Biodiesel Conference, Emily Landsburg spoke to a crowd of over 2,000 conference attendees about the National Biodiesel Board Sustainability Task Force’s accomplishments since its formation last February. In addition to her role as CEO of BlackGold Biofuels, Emily serves as Chairman of the Task Force. She unveiled a set of Sustainability Principles developed by the Task Force and adopted by the NBB Governing Board that will serve as guideposts as the US biodiesel industry grows. The principles cover issues such as food security, climate change mitigation, safe working conditions, and natural resource management. The full text of the Principles is available here: Guiding Principles for Biodiesel Sustainability.

In addition to the Principles, Emily discussed measuring a business’ impact with respect to a triple bottom line: people, profit, and planet. “Not only is this for ethical reasons,” Landsburg explained, “but for business reasons as well. What you’re actually doing when you ask yourself about the people and the planet is asking – what are the externalities in this market? Are there conditions that are not impacting the market now, but will in the future through regulation, supply and demand, or public opinion? Foreseeing these issues keeps you on the cutting edge, gives you a leg up on your competition, and keeps our industry as a whole ahead of the curve.” BlackGold Biofuels is committed to the triple bottom line and honoring the NBB’s Sustainability Principles. BlackGold is a member of the Philadelphia Sustainable Business Network.

Listen to Emily's speech here.
Read Biodiesel Magazine’s coverage of the presentation here.
Sustainability Task Force website.

Philadelphia Fry-o-Diesel changes name to BlackGold Biofuels

Philadelphia Fry-o-Diesel (PFoD) is now doing business as BlackGold Biofuels. The name was changed to better reflect the company’s focus on conversion of low-quality brown grease such as sewer trap grease and national focus.

Our new name is a nod to the early days of the petroleum era, with new relevance for our current energy landscape. Rather than finite crude petroleum drilled in wells in foreign lands, this new BlackGold is a renewable resource, “crude” in the rancid sense, found down manholes in our own cities, close to energy demand. In this era, we strive to meet our energy needs with local resources in a way that strengthens our economies, enhances our energy independence, and improves our environmental footprint. Welcome to the new BlackGold.

Read more about the company history here.

New Logo

Along with our new name, we now have a new logo. The recycling arrows in the oil drop reflect our core concept – beneficial reuse of waste material into high-value, environmentally superior fuel.

Studio ETC, the local design firm who designed the logo, deserve a big 'Thank You'. In addition to having top rate designers, the company runs off of renewable energy, is a member of the Philadelphia Sustainable Business Network, and offers frequent community events promoting sustainability. A longtime supporter of our company’s mission, Studio ETC designed the logo for Philadelphia Fry-o-Diesel as well. Visit their website at www.studioetc.com

New Website

At long last, PFOD is proud to unveil its new website. We hope that this new site offers more content in a format that is easier to navigate. We welcome suggestions for improvement. Please email info@BlackGoldBiofuels.com with your recommendations. Many thanks to Angela Kassahun, Casey Rieder, Ruben Gailbraith and Jessi Mulroney for their work on this site.