| School Buses
"We are a
school bus fleet. We have 32 buses, and we have used about 80,000 gallons of B20
in the last year. We decided to make the switch to biodiesel because we were worried
about the health of our students, staff and the public from breathing diesel exhaust.
Everyone in our school district now breathes easier now that we are running B20."
Wayne Hettler, St. Johns, MI | School
buses are one of the largest mass transit programs in the United States. Every
school day, some 440,000 yellow school buses transport more than 24 million children
to and from schools and school-related activities. At the current time, the vast
majority of the school buses are powered by heavy-duty diesel engines and consume
conventional #2 diesel fuel (although a small share of school bus engines now
in use are designed for gasoline). Anyone who has
ever had to sit in traffic behind a diesel-fueled bus will understand concerns
about children who ride buses to and from school each day. Pollution from diesel
vehicles has health implications for everyone, especially children. The use of
biodiesel can reduce that threat. Because it works in any diesel engine with few
or no  modifications,
biodiesel offers schools a relatively inexpensive option for an immediate solution
to air quality concerns. As a result, several thousand school buses in the US
are running on blends of biodiesel and reporting success: Medford,
New Jersey School District
Medford, New
Jersey School District began using B20 in in 1997. According to Joe Biluck,
Director of Operations and Technology, the fuel has performed well even in temperatures
as low as eleven degrees below zero.
"Biodiesel
offers the best option to increase our reliance on domestic, renewable fuels while
producing significant results in terms of emission reduction," said Biluck.
"Biodiesel's primary attraction is its ease of integration coupled with the
fact it is a technology that is not capital intensive and can be applied to older
units as well as today's vehicles." Olympia,
Illinois School District Olympia, Illinois
School District began using a B2 blend in August 2002 in all 33 of its school
buses and about 20 operation and maintenance support vehicles such as lawnmowers,
pickup trucks and tractors. The 377 square mile school district is the second
largest school district in the state after Cook County outside Chicago. The buses
travel 4,000 miles a day, or an average of 600,000 miles a year. "We're
thrilled to be using biodiesel - a fuel that can be used in all our diesel vehicles
with no engine modifications," said Trent Keller, Transportation Director
for the Olympia School District. "because of the size of our district and
the fact that our bus engines run 200,000 miles before they are traded in, performance
and safety are very important to us. Our buses have been running beautifully with
biodiesel." Clark County, Nevada School District On
May 22, 2003 Frank Giordano, Coordinator of Vehicle Maintenance for the Clark
County School District, accepted a National Partners Award from the US
Department of Energy. The award was given to Giordano for the district's use of
biodiesel in more than 1,200 school buses operating in Clark County, Nevada. Arlington
County, Virginia School District Last year, Arlington
County, Virginia began using B20 in the county's 500 diesel-powered vehicles,
including 120 school buses, according to Ric Hiller, chief of the equipment division.
"We started using biodiesel in our school buses because we saw an opportunity
to kill two birds with one stone: clean the air and use a renewable fuel,"
said Hiller. "We're very pleased with biodiesel so far." Biodiesel
is a homegrown solution to the problem of dirty school buses and its widespread
use could immediately benefit the health of children, while at the same time helping
to protect the environment, boost domestic energy security, increase farm income,
and create jobs. The schools districts across the country that are already using
biodiesel are true leaders and should serve as examples for others. July
18, 2004 News Article: Three Arkansas School Districts Pleased with Alternative
Fuels Use
of a biodiesel fuel blend in 149 school buses operated by the three districts
in Pulaski County has worked out well, officials say. The districts participated
last year - and plan to do so again in the upcoming school year - in a pilot program
that reimburses them for the extra costs of using a blend of fossil fuel and vegetable
oil. Use of the fuel is intended to reduce reliance on non-renewable fossil fuels.
The biodiesel mix used last year by the Little Rock, North Little Rock and Pulaski
County districts is a blend of 80 percent standard diesel fuel and 20 percent
soy-based oil. It costs about 20 cents more per gallon than regular diesel fuel. But
some of that extra cost was offset in a surprising way, said Mike Martello, transportation
director for the Little Rock district. "We noticed something that we didn't
think was going to happen," Martello said. "We actually got a little
bit better fuel economy on the biodiesel than we did with the regular." Martello
said his operation had no problems using the biodiesel fuel. "It makes us
less dependent on foreign oil, obviously," he said. The Little Rock district
used the blend this year in 103 magnet-school buses, more than a third of its
fleet. "The only disadvantage I can think of is the cost," Martello
said. "But as long as we are reimbursed for the increase in the cost it is
tremendous advantage, I think, to the school districts to be able to use the fuel." Reimbursement
came from the Arkansas Energy Office, a division of the state Economic Development
Department. The rebates are available to help other Arkansas school districts
offet the costs of experimenting with the fuel, according to Energy Office director
Chris Benson. Gov. Mike Huckabee says he hopes other districts will take advantage
of the program. "It
shows the state's support for our agricultural economy, air quality, and smart
use of energy resources," Huckabee said.
Other interesting links:
Flyer: School Buses Excel with Biodiesel Blends
Brochure: Biodiesel
for Decisions Makers
Brochure: Biodiesel: A Better Choice for Children
Flyer: Biodiesel: A Better Choice for Children, and Buses
Information and activities to teach
students about biodiesel fuel: Alternative
Fuels Biodiesel (Teacher Guide and student worksheets and
activities).
EPA's
Clean School Bus USA -- The goal of Clean School Bus USA is to reduce both
children's exposure to diesel exhaust and the amount of air pollution created
by diesel school buses.
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