Waste fry oil turns up the heat at Clark University

While most buildings at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., have moved to natural gas heat, a few older facilities still use an oil-burning tank. Rather than continue using traditional fuel, the university’s dining services department saw an opportunity.

Partnering with a small, social-purpose business venture founded by a Clark graduate, the department now turns its waste fry oil into biofuel that heats an academic building. It’s an uncomplicated process, says Michael Newmark, general manager for Sodexo at Clark—dining services leaves the used vegetable oil in barrels for pickup. The next phase is to try to use the recycled oil to power kitchen equipment, Newmark says.

When the program first began, the university’s sustainability office backed an academic internship for students to manage the process and learn about biofuel, says Jenny Isler, director of sustainability. They’re now producing B-20, which consists of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum diesel. It is the most popular blend because of its low cost and emissions and its cold-weather performance, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

“[We hope] to continue indefinitely with this full-circle, zero-waste, community-based initiative,” Isler says.