http://www.timesleader.net/articles/stories/public/200512/03/046p_news.html

By Jared Nelson | 03 December 2005

A recent move by the Caldwell County school district has county school bus riders, and bus drivers, breathing easier.

The school district recently switched the fuel for its fleet of buses from regular diesel fuel to a blend of diesel and biodiesel, a fuel derived from natural oils — in this case, soybeans — and school officials say the cleaner-burning biodiesel is already paying off.

The district used its last supply of regular diesel fuel at the end of October, said Larry Curling, the district’s transportation director.

After that, the district converted its fuel supply to a B20 biodiesel blend (a blend of 80 percent diesel and 20 percent soy oil).

The switch has several benefits, Curling said, citing the cleaner exhaust and emissions produced by biodiesel fuel as one of the most important.

Before, when buses lined up in front of the county’s schools each afternoon, they were separated by only a few feet. With the bus engines running, students and drivers were exposed to the fumes and exhaust from the bus in front of them in the line.

“That exhaust was just running right up in front of the other bus,” Curling said. “Now, you can’t even notice it. It just burns clean.”

The cleaner exhaust will be a breath of fresh air for students in the school system, where asthma is the number one reason for absenteeism, he said.

“The most important thing is the benefit to our students, bus drivers and monitors, he said.

Soy-based biodiesel is also the only alternative fuel to have successfully completed the Environmental Protection Agency’s health effects testing under the Clean Air Act, he added.

Its use will also strengthen the U.S. economy and reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil, he said.

“Since U.S. soybeans are plentiful, petroleum prices are unstable, and oil-producing regions of the world are volatile, biodiesel is beneficial to our energy security.”

Curling said the district opted to pursue the biodiesel changeover after some research and conversations with other school districts and local soybean producers.

Traditionally, biodiesel had been more expensive than regular diesel fuel, but recent petroleum price increases, coupled with federal and state incentives to distributors to officer biodiesel, now make the costs essentially equal.

“Right now, there’s not much price difference,” he said.

The school district solicits bids from a list of approved western Kentucky fuel suppliers about once a month. The last supply delivered came at a cost of $2.10 per gallon, about 6 cents a gallon cheaper than regular diesel, he said. “I don’t think anybody is arguing we’re going to see cheap oil again.”

For the quantity of fuel consumed by school buses each year, saving pennies on the gallon can mean hundreds of dollars saved each year.

The district runs 30 buses each day, transporting 1,700 students to and from school. Buses travel about 2,100 miles a day, and the fuel they burn amounts to approximately 55,000 gallons each year.

Any cost savings involved, though, takes a back seat to the other benefits of the alternative fuel mixture, Curling said.

“The bottom line is, we are using soy biodiesel for the health benefits for all of us, the environment, and to support America’s soybean farmers.”