Enterprise mayor has biodiesel on the mind, calls meeting

Your next order of french fries might help the City of Enterprise get a little greener.

Mayor Kenneth Boswell is asking area restaurant owners to attend at an upcoming meeting to address the possibility of using biodiesel fuel in the city’s 220-vehicle fleet.

The city’s Public Works Department recently submitted a grant application to the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs with the hope of developing a biodiesel plant in the City of Enterprise. Fifteen cities in Alabama applied for the grant, but only ten will be awarded $200,000 each. Boswell said he feels confident about Enterprise’s chances, and expects a decision by Aug. 7.

“I believe this is one of those projects that makes sense and makes cents,” he said.

America’s oil supply is vulnerable, and the mayor said he wants Enterprise to be a leader in the grassroots effort to work toward a solution to the country’s dependence on foreign oil. He also said Enterprise restaurants are going to play a vital role because of their copious supply of used cooking oil, which is used to develop biodiesel fuel.

Biodiesel is a non-petroleum-based diesel fuel made by chemically altering vegetable oil, which can then be used alone, or blended with conventional diesel, in diesel-engine vehicles.

“We can take something that is otherwise a nuisance and put it to use to supplement the rising cost of fuel,” Boswell said. “The restaurant owners pay a hefty fee to properly dispose of the grease. This saves them from having to do that.”

Boswell, who doesn’t consider himself “fanatically” green-minded, said his vision is to achieve a 20-30 percent decrease in the city’s dependence on foreign oil, as well as save on the costs of plumbing repairs and overtime.

“We can recapture the grease that would otherwise go down the drain,” said Jimmy Kilgore of the Department of Public Works. “We could possibly expand this to include collection at residences.”

Boswell, who sits on a Biofuel Commitee for Gov. Bob Riley, said the plan has been in the works for more than two years. Auburn University, a leader in progressive bioenergy research and education, partnered with Enterprise on the complex grant application.

Boswell stressed that although the grant has not yet been awarded, it is important to take proactive measures regarding the future of fuel, and encourages restaurant owners or representatives to attend the meeting.

“We need to be good stewards of the community and of the ecosystem,” he said. “How we leave this Earth should be better than we found it.”

The meeting will take place Tuesday, July 29, at 9 a.m. in the Enterprise City Hall Council Chambers.