French fry oil to be tested on Guantanamo fleet

By Jane Sutton

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - The faint aroma of french fries may soon waft over the roadways of the Guantanamo naval base as the U.S. military experiments with a plan to run its buses and trucks on used cooking oil.

Best known as the site of the United States' controversial prison camp for suspected terrorists, the base is home to more than 4,000 people who produce about 1,500 gallons (5,680 liters) of used cooking oil a month in its galleys, restaurants and home kitchens.

At present, it goes into a pit at the landfill.

"Imagine a swimming pool full of grease with turkey vultures nine deep," said Navy Cmdr. Jeff Johnston, public works officer for the base. "It's not hazardous but it's disgusting."

To reduce the load on the landfill, the Navy recently bought a biodiesel processor to clean the used cooking oil and mix it with diesel fuel that powers much of the base.

Workers began testing technology on Friday to make their first batch of fuel, starting with used oil from the McDonald's restaurant. If all goes well, they will start testing the fuel on utility trucks and all-terrain vehicles by January and fuel local buses with biodiesel by June, said Fred Burns, energy and utilities manager for the base.

"When a bus goes down the street, you'll smell that french fry odor," Burns said.

Utility managers are unsure how strong the aroma might be but since deep-frying fish is popular on the base, faint might be better.