|
|
TriMet begins testing biodiesel
|
Oregon State Rep. Jackie Dingfelder, right, watches Carson Oils Richard Silva filling the first ever TriMet vehicle with biodiesel fuel. |
MEMO PHOTO: TIM CURRAN |
TriMet is beginning to test biodiesel fuel in its fleet of 75 Lift buses, which provide door-to-door service for the elderly and people with disabilities. This move makes TriMet the first transit district in Oregon and one of a handful of transit districts nationally to use biodiesel fuel in its bus fleet.
The fuel consists of a blend of five percent vegetable and used cooking oil based fuel and 95 percent petroleum diesel, a blend known as B5 biodiesel. Biodiesel is a renewable diesel replacement fuel that can be manufactured from domestically produced vegetable oil and used cooking oils.
Oregon State Rep. Jackie Dingfelder, representing Mid-Multnomah County, has worked to raise the awareness and support for biofuels in communities across the state.
In partnership with Carson Oil, TriMet will receive 27,300 gallons each month of the blended fuel at the agencys Lift facility in Northwest Portland. Begin-ning in January, Carson Oil will purchase biodiesel from SeQential Biofuels in Salem, the first local biodiesel manufacturer in Oregon. The local biodiesel consists of vegetable oil and used cooking oil from such places as Northwest restaurants and Kettle Foods in Salem.
|
|
|