In Austria's state of Tyrol, ecological current and heat are being produced from old cooking fat. After frying, restaurants and private households collect the used oil for the regional combined heating and power station. The oil produces enough energy for 3,500 people.The vegetable oil used to go down the drain, but in 1999 Tyrol set up a central oil collection system. Tyrol's residents and restaurants collect 1,800 tons of used cooking oil a year; it's used to produce six million kilowatt hours of ecological current, which is fed into the public power grid.
