A 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.