Chef Tyler Florence's hunting-lodge-ish restaurant Wayfare Tavern hands over its used cooking oil to a biodiesel company.

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But those barrels of used cooking oil in the back alley have ignited a grease war in Salt Lake County, Utah.

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Banco Verde Vida (Green Life Bank) pays with its moeda verde (green currency) for recyclable materials such as plastic bottles, tins and used cooking oil.

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One innovative company, Grease Lightning, based in New York City, has been purchasing used cooking oil from local restaurants to convert into biodiesel fuel since 2011.

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The line chefs chopping up eggplant, give him a nod as he walks over to another blue barrel, only this one is half full with used cooking oil.

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The grain is one of the key starting links in the country's food chain, used to make cooking oil, tofu products and in feed for the burgeoning pig industry.

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From Cabernet to Chardonnay, the seeds leftover from winemaking are used to make a cooking oil and skin-care products.

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Most recycled cooking oil today is used to power diesel trucks or mixed with home heating fuel, a simpler conversion process.

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And the price of one of its main products--palm oil, widely used for cooking in tropical Africa--also went haywire.

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Coconuts are also used to make chutneys, pickles known as sambols and cooking oil.

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