Cooking oil from Rome households could soon be fueling city vehicles — and the conversion process used as an educational tool for local schoolchildren.

The Coosa Valley Regional Development Center has awarded the city $10,000 to jump-start a biodiesel production program.

Rome-Floyd County Environmental Director Eric Lindberg is spearheading the program, which would require an estimated $30,000 for the processor and another $12,800 for other equipment and supplies.

Plans are to give one-gallon containers to interested residents to fill with used oil, and establish drop-off racks at four locations where full containers can be traded for empty ones.

The oil would be converted to fuel with a Biodiesel Logic processor, which is designed to be used with minimum training.

Lindberg said field trips to the production site would be conducted by staff of the ECO River Education Center under construction in Ridge Ferry Park. Coursework targeting specific grade-levels also would be developed.

Initially the fuel would be used in off-road equipment, such as mowers and tractors. The city arborist’s vehicles would be next, “as the city’s mechanics become more comfortable with the properties of biodiesel and how engines respond to it,” Lindberg said.

Ideally, the fuel would be used in a school bus dedicated to bringing students to programs at the ECO Center.

The biodiesel project would be limited to the city of Rome in the first phase but expanded to the unincorporated area if it is successful.

“Until the city has some experience with collecting used oil and converting it to biodiesel, there is some reluctance to invest too heavily in a large-scale program,” Lindberg wrote in the application.

Dean Clemmer, a senior planner for the CVRDC, said the money is coming from a Clean Communities education grant provided by the Appalachian Regional Commission.

The award requires a commitment of twice the amount in local matching funds, so the city’s participation depends on whether it gets an alternative fuels grant being pursued by the transit department.

Paulding County also received a $10,000 grant, Clemmer said. Chattooga County had hoped to submit an application but could not nail down a sufficient source of oil.

Lindberg said the produced biodiesel would help the city lower fuel costs “while utilizing a cleaner, locally produced, environmentally friendly fuel.”

It also would create a valuable use for waste oil, which clogs the sewer system when it is poured down drains. Most large restaurants have contracts with grease haulers, but smaller restaurants may want to participate in the program, Lindberg said.

Click here to see more about the Clean Cities grant.