A North Carolina city that had tried using biodiesel in the past is giving the green fuel another chance.
The Greensboro (NC) News & Record reports that after dropping a seven-year experiment with biodiesel last year, the city is ready to start fueling its garbage trucks with soybean-based B5:
“For the period that they used it, they had technical issues. So now that they are getting ready to go back they sort of want to go in one step at a time,” said Stephen Randall , Greensboro’s energy and sustainability program manager…
The city started using B20 — a 20 percent biodiesel blend — in 2002 in an effort to reduce air pollution. Greensboro even won an award from the Department of Energy for the switch to biodiesel.
But the city ran into problems when its fleet suffered from plugged filters — typical when changing to this type of fuel.
“Our worst morning we had 17 trucks go down within three hours,” said Steve Simpson , Greensboro’s fleet manager. “It definitely made it more difficult.”
Experts believe that the B5 will give the city fewer problems this time around, and Greensboro might even be able to go back to B20 because production methods are better now.
The article adds that the city is also considering natural gas for vehicle fuels.