Students in Spearfish, SD will be breathing easier this school year now that Spearfish Public Schools in South Dakota and Dakota Trailways have announced that all district school buses will now be running on O2 Diesel™, a new, cleaner-burning fuel blend of ethanol-diesel.

The first of these newly converted buses was unveiled at a news conference at West Elementary School in Spearfish on Wednesday, according to a press release.

“Using O2Diesel fuel affords many benefits to my community as well as for my business operation, “ said Mel Ladson, President of Dakota Trailways. “It improves the air quality in and around the buses. Using ethanol creates manufacturing jobs, supports the local farmer, and the agricultural economy.”

The introduction of this cost-effective, ethanol-diesel fuel in school buses is part of the O2Diesel CityHome™ Program, a national air quality initiative that enables municipal transit systems and school bus operators to make the switch to O2Diesel™ fuel without straining their budgets.

The new program has several pilot programs in the Midwest through the joint efforts of O2Diesel and the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.