Peak Grease: Restaurant Thefts Rise
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 05.30.08
Pizzaria owner had his fryer oil stolen. New York Times
The Times picks up a story Mike covered earlier: People are stealing fryer grease to make biofuel. This pizza shop owner has been hit seven times and is installing video cameras.
The Times notes that processed fryer oil, which is called yellow grease, is actually not trash. The grease is traded on the booming commodities market. Its value has increased in recent months to historic highs, driven by the even higher prices of gas and ethanol, making it an ever more popular form of biodiesel to fuel cars and trucks.In 2000, yellow grease was trading for 7.6 cents per pound. On Thursday, its price was about 33 cents a pound, or almost $2.50 a gallon.::New York Times
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And, how do I get to buy stock in this!
Trading of items that are grown, mined, or otherwise harvested is reflected in the stock market as "futures trading" It is highly speculative and has dashed the fortunes of many traders, amateur and professional alike.
Some one help me out here. All the restaraunt owners I know have to pay to have their grease taken away? Has this changed recently? Otherwise I don't see why the pizza shop owner would be upset, just the people paid to take the grease.
A few months ago I had a surprise tour of a biodiesel refiner that a truck stop owner has built to supplement his fuel sales. It was rather interesting to see this greasy trucker being so...cutting edge...this is the last guy you'd think would be into green technology.
During the tour I kept asking him how secure his supply of yellow grease was and if it wasn't what his ROI would be if he had to switch to using the more expensive soybean oil. Eventually he got tired of my questions and ended the tour, he knew I was skeptical of his scheme. Hopefully he doesn't loose his shirt with the 1 mil he invested in the set up, mind you, this was in a place where people LOVE deep fried food so maybe his supply is good.
Maybe the pizza owner drives a biodiesel vehicle.
Jeffery, I'd suggest getting in the grease collection business if that is the case. Where I live, there isn't a single drop that isn't pre-claimed. If you can get someone to pay you to collect their waste oil, you'll get paid twice. But even if you can pick it up for free, there's a market for it.
The bigger picture is that crime is rising nation-wide. People are stealing whatever has value, and I'd imagine it will probably get worse with the economy.
Not sure why they would have to pay, if so it was a good deal for those who collected it, as they recycled it into a sale able product.
Considering recent demand due to biodiesel, they may be selling it to individuals and want to retain that small profit.