November 7, 2007

 

Fish oil comes full circle for use as biofuel
 

 

While the ethanol boom started just last year as oil prices soared, companies and local governments in Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, Honduras have been experimenting with fish-based biodiesel for years, according to Changing World, an online publication.

 

In fact, things have come full circle. Whale oil was once used so extensively as a fuel source for lamps that the mammal was hunted to near extinction. Ironically, petroleum was seen as an eco-friendly alternative back then.

 

Now, with petroleum blamed for global warming and environmental pollution, companies are going back to fish oil.

 

However, this time round, fish oil is gaining back its eco-friendly credentials as the fuel is now made from oil left over from fish processing.

 

Much of the oil is used in the process as boiler fuel for drying fish meal and in vehicles, according to the Alaska Energy Authority.

Fish biodiesel is underused when taking into its account its relative abundance.

 

Each year, 21 million gallons of fish oil are produced by Alaska's fish processing plants and two-thirds (13 million gallons) of that are dumped into the ocean, according to the New Agriculturist.

 

The waste, often in high concentrations, disrupts the ecosystem, the group noted.

 

Fish waste, if not processed immediately, degrades rapidly and quickly loses its value, for example as an animal feed.

 

Currently, there are Canadian companies selling fishoil as nutrition supplements and also as biodiesel to local gas stations.

 

Most of the activity in fish biodiesel has been centered in Alaska and Canada. near isolated coastal cities where there is no agricultural production, high transportation costs and where fish oil is the most abundant feedstock for biodiesel, the organisation said.

Fishoil can be obtained even more cheaply than plant-based biodiesels in Honduras, the report noted.