100% Biodiesel, also called B100, is used by over 180 of Berkeley's diesel vehicles representing 90 percent of its fleet of 200 diesel vehicles. The remaining 10 percent of diesel vehicles belong to the fire department and will be converted to 100% Biodiesel when accommodations are made for delivering the fuel to the more remote fire stations throughout the city.
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| Biodiesel is the only alternative fuel to complete the rigorous health effects testing requirements of the U.S. Department of Energy Clean Air Act. (Photo: City of Berkeley) |
So what makes biodiesel that much better? Studies completed by the U.S. Department of Energy and Department of Agriculture show biodiesel reduces lifecycle carbon dioxide by 78 percent. It is free of sulfates and is the only alternative fuel to have completed the rigorous health effects testing requirements of the Clean Air Act. Results showed biodiesel significantly reduces the threat of cancer and other ailments associated with greenhouse gas emissions, compared to petroleum diesel.
Closer to home a new Quebec provincial budget has ended Montreal's Biobus experiment. The local Liberal government opted against following through on the previous Parti Québécois government's promise to drop provincial taxes on biodiesel fuel.
The proposed 16.4 cent per liter tax cut would have been necessary for the Montreal Transit Corp. to convert its entire 1,600 unit bus fleet to the cleaner energy source. March saw the end of the MTC's year-long 155 bus experiment. Having reduced exhaust emissions by approximately 1,300 tons, Camil Lagacé, director of the project, considered it an unequivocal success.