Cooking oil 'to be turned into fuel'

Cars, buses and lorries could use biodiesel

Plans to build a £10m factory capable of converting used cooking oil into fuel have been announced.

Argent Energy claims that the plant near Newarthill, Motherwell, would be the largest of its kind in the world.

The company says that the first large-scale biodiesel production unit in Scotland would be capable of creating 50m litres of fuel a year.

Blended fuel will be sold in the UK

It is hoped to start construction in the spring of 2003, with production beginning the following year.

The facility will be capable of processing most oils and fats, whether they are saturated or unsaturated.

They will be converted into biodiesel, which can be used pure or blended with mineral diesel.

The company anticipates that the fuel will be sold in a blended form in the UK.

Andrew Hunter, the joint managing director of Argent Group Europe, said the plant would have significant environmental and agricultural implications.

Environmental benefits

It is thought that the factory would be able to handle waste oils produced by UK's fast food and catering industries.

"This is the start of possibly the most exciting sustainable energy project in Scotland," he said.

"Raw materials increasingly considered as 'waste' will be recycled into biodiesel which, when blended with conventional diesel, will deliver significant environmental benefits.

"There is no reason why all diesel cars, buses and lorries will not be able to benefit from using this biofuel."

Argent Energy struck a £10m deal with Austrian manufacturer BioDiesel International (BDI) to make the plant a reality.