Food grease is something many of us want nothing to do with. Although it may be bad for your waistline, turns out it's great for Bakersfield thanks to a wastewater treatment plant venture.

It turns out Bakersfield is a hub for converting restaurant grease into renewable energy that not only helps the environment but Bakersfield's wallet as well.

For the past twenty years, Bakersfield has been the grease collecting hub for central and southern California, receiving more than 300 gallons of grease per month.

"We get grease from all over including Riverside, Orange County, LA, Fresno, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and as far as San Diego county," said wastewater plant Superintendent Louis Sun.

Haulers pick up grease from restaurants and bring them to east Bakersfield's Wastewater Treatment Facility. Where it's filtered multiple times and pumped into two oxygen-free tanks set at 98 degrees. Micro-organisms in the tank then break down the grease and convert it into methane gas. The gas is then used to fuel the entire facility.

"It's sort of a win-win situation. It allows us to recycle waste material and produce electricity to save our own operating cost," said Sun.

Sun says by using methane fuel, the facility produces up to 90 percent of its own electricity thereby cutting down its PG&E bill by upto 80 percent all while generating a $1 million a year in revenue for Bakersfield.