Diesel replaced by frying oil, is it coming soon?

Filling his car’s engine fuel withcooking oil ? This is the very serious measure adopted at first reading on Friday July 22 as part of the bill on purchasing power, currently under consideration in the Senate. At the origin of this proposal, Julien Bayou, leader of the Europe party Ecology the Greens (EELV). Concretely, the amendment proposes to give the possibility to the French to use used oils as alternatives to fuel for certain types of cars (old diesel models).

In other words, reusing the oil from sunflower or used rapeseed, filter it then decant it, to finally be able to transform it into fuel. But currently, the use of these waste oils for this purpose remains prohibited to individuals.

Ten liters of oil for eight liters of fuel

It is precisely in the authorization for individuals to use this method that the challenge of the amendment proposed by EELV lies. “While diesel exceeds 2 euros per liter at the pump, this solution allows both to immediately relieve the wallets of French men and women, to limit pollution from diesel engines and to reduce the energy dependence of the country”, argues Julien Bayou. According to the text of the amendment, ten liters of used cooking oil could generate eight liters of fuel.

And if it has caused a lot of ink to flow in recent weeks, the proposal of the deputy EELV has nothing far-fetched. It is also the subject of similar initiatives deployed in recent years. In May 2021, the company Air France saw its first plane take off with “sustainable aviation fuel”, made up of 20% cooking oil. Since January 1, 2022, airlines have been required to use at least 1% of this biofuel.

A few years earlier, the French group Avril, located in theDawn, announced the creation of a fuel 100% composed of rapeseed oil, intended to run trucks and buses. Smaller structures also recover oils used for this purpose. On the Ile d’Oléron, the association Roule ma frite collects nearly 20,000 used cooking oils (most of them come from the catering sector) each year. She even managed to obtain customs authorization to run a few modes of transport, in particular a truck and the small tourist train from Saint-Trojan-les-Bains, in Charente-Maritime.

This practice is also much more developed in Europe. Particularly in Belgium, where about 20% of the biodiesel is made from frying oils in Europe. The use for individuals has also been authorized for a long time.