For a 130-tonne mass of grease, bound as hard as concrete by thousands of tampons, wipes and used tissues, the Whitechapel fatberg is in surprisingly high demand. Now, a Scottish biodiesel company is taking a piece to turn into fuel. Posnett calculates that the new plant could process 300,000 tonnes of fatberg a year – enough to fill more than 50,000 lorries with biodiesel, which creates a fraction of the polluting emissions of standard fuel. As unfortunate sewer miners continue to hack away at the Whitechapel fatberg (about half of it has been excavated so far), Argent is already supplying biodiesel, blended at 20% with standard diesel, to Metroline, one of London’s biggest bus operators. Thames Water is anxious for its 15 million customers to stop putting fat and wet wipes, among other clogging agents, down our drains.

Source: The Guardian September 19, 2017 15:22 UTC