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From Veggie Oil to Electricity
CT biodiesel plant unveils new source of green energy
By RYAN HANRAHAN

Behind a bunch of goats off Route 132 in Bethlehem, the latest in "green" technology was unveiled Monday. A generator that will be powered by biodiesel is ready to produce enough electricity to power up to 150 homes.

A $500,000 grant from the Department of Energy funded the project on Chris Glynos' Litchfield County farm. The farm already uses a series of chemical reactions to turn vegetable oil (mainly soy bean oil) into something that can be burned in an engine. The series of reactions extracts byproducts that can damage an engine and what's left can heat a home (when combined with home heating oil) or power a tractor.

The electricity produced by the generator will be used to power the farm and what's leftover will be sold back to Connecticut Light and Power and put back on the grid. Glynos expects 250 kilowatts of juice will be generated which is enough to power not just his farm but up to 150 homes.

Burning biodiesel is cleaner than burning a fossil fuel but there are still some concerns. Some studies claim biodiesel releases more nitrogen oxides than diesel. This type of air pollution has been linked to health problems and acid rain. Glynos refutes those studies and says that data collected from his generation plant will help determine whether nitrogen oxide emissions are as substantial as some studies suggest.

Part of the grant is to study the economics of generating electricity from biodiesel including which types and blends of vegetable oil burn the most efficiently

Biofuels Digest, eNewsletter, 9/28/09

In Connecticut, local biodiesel producer BioPur will commission its new power station in Bethlehem, using waste cooking oil and generating 225 KW of power from a three-tank system utilizing 18.2 gallons of biodiesel per KWh.

The company said that it intends not only to produce power but collect data from the project to improve future use of biodiesel for power gen. The company said that it expects to add additional generators at a later date to its power station, which will supply electricity to Connecticut Light and Power