Rialto to turn grease into power
Rialto is developing a taste for grease.
A Rialto wastewater treatment plant will be powered in the future by used kitchen grease, waste sludge and a hydrogen fuel cell under a $15.1-million project to be announced today.
The city of Rialto, which teamed with Chevron Energy Solutions and FuelCell Energy, said the endeavor would cut landfill wastes and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as bring in new revenue and save the city $800,000 a year in energy costs.
When complete, it will be the nation’s first system to power a hydrogen fuel cell using methane gas from decomposing greases and sewage waste, according to Chevron Energy Solutions, a unit of San Ramon, Calif.-based Chevron Corp. Chevron Energy Solutions has designed renewable and energy efficiency systems for government customers such as the U.S. Postal Service.
As part of the venture, grease haulers that collect grease waste from restaurants will drop the goop off at the treatment plant instead of the landfill. Microbes will digest the contents along with other waste, creating the methane biogas that will power the 900-kilowatt fuel cell.
