Chicken Fat to Jet Fuel
Agricultural giant Tyson Foods Inc. and fuel developer Syntroleum Corp say they've begun in recent weeks to make diesel and jet fuel from chicken fat, beef tallow and a range of greases and oils at a plant they've built in Geismar, La., south of Baton Rouge. The raw materials are leftovers from Tyson's meat-processing plants and other food-processing factories and restaurants.
The Louisiana refinery has the capacity to produce 75 million gallons of fat-based fuel annually—making it tiny by oil-industry standards but among the bigger alternative-fuel plants in the U.S.
Buyers include oil companies mandated by federal law to mix renewable fuel into their conventional diesel, the companies say, though they wouldn't identify the purchasers, citing confidentiality agreements. The U.S. Air Force confirmed that it has contracted to buy about 40,000 gallons for testing the fuel for potential use in planes.
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