Almost 50,000 litres of used cooking oil was converted to biodiesel and more than 150 tonnes of greenhouse-gas emissions were eliminated in a co-operative effort that saw cruise ship waste turned into bus line fuel this summer.
That was the final tally for the first year of a "sustainable fuel loop" established by the Cowichan Biodiesel Co-op, Cruise Victoria bus lines, Tervita, Greasecycle and the Northwest and Canada Cruise Association.
"We piloted this project last year collecting waste cooking oil from cruise ships, but the sustainable loop wasn't complete until we converted [the waste cooking oil] into fuel and provided it to CVS bus lines this year," said Brian Roberts, president of the Cowichan BioDiesel Co-op.
Last year, the pilot project saw about 20,000 litres of waste cooking oil turned into biodiesel. This year, that amount was more than double. And it had a place to go."CVS has been using 100 per cent biodiesel. I don't think there are any other bus fleets in North America that are using pure 100 per cent bio-fuel, especially one made from recycled cooking oil," said Roberts.
Tervita, which oversees the removal of waste from the cruise ships that dock in Victoria, was tasked with finding the best use of the oil. In this case, that meant having Greasecycle collect it and transport it to the co-op's biofuel facility in the Cowichan Valley.
After it was converted, the co-op transported it back to Ogden Point and filled CVS's fleet of buses, which move about 250,000 people each year on shuttle and tour buses.
In all, there were 11 cruise ships, which made 195 calls into Victoria this season, that took part in the project. "We're really thrilled it was a real breakthrough year for us being able to provide fuel to a tour-bus company, and I think it's amazing they are showing real leadership by taking responsibility for their emissions and their own environmental footprint," said Roberts.
The co-op, which has an annual capacity of producing about 150,000 litres of biofuel, will continue to supply CVS with fuel over the winter, though in reduced amounts. The co-op has 180 members who use the fuel for their own vehicles year-round.
The majority of the collected used cooking oil comes from restaurants.
