Washington City Goes Green, Saves with Biodiesel

John Davis

bellevuelogoA Washington state city’s conversion to biodiesel will keep the environment green while saving the municipality some green, too. This story from the Bellevue Reporter says a new contract the city has to run biodiesel in its fleet is expected to save more than $25,000 a year.

“Our new biodiesel contract is a big win for Bellevue’s Environmental Stewardship Initiative,” said Emma Johnson, the city’s resource conversation manager. “Not only is the city being a good steward of our environment, but we’re saving taxpayers a substantial amount of money.”

The city’s new mixture, a biodiesel blend of 80 percent petroleum diesel and 20 percent biodiesel, is purported to reduce vehicle life-cycle emissions by 16.5 percent compared to petroleum diesel-only vehicles. Bellevue has 240 diesel vehicles out of a fleet of 694, all of which are using the new blend, referred to as a “B20” blend.

They were previously using a 15 percent biodiesel blend, and will save 28 cents a gallon by switching to a slightly higher biodiesel cocktail.

This batch of biodiesel is made from used cooking oil, saving that waste from going into a landfill as well.

Biodiesel