Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
This came from a Richmond BC Canada newspaper Looks like it's getting under way.
Monday, February 09, 2004
Some drivers are feeling better about foul-smelling diesel trucks after toodling around in ones powered by french-fry grease.
The pilot project in five Lower Mainland cities takes recycled grease from fast-food restaurants and mixes it with diesel.
Its supporters, including City of Richmond vehicle fleet manager Ken Fryer, cite a study which found the fuel cuts harmful emissions by 24 per cent.
"Alternative fuels is who I am. We believe in this stuff," says Fryer, 49, who has dabbled in natural gas-powered cars and new combustion systems since his days as a college student in Ontario. "We want to do our part for the environment. "
Fryer manages a fleet of 500 vehicles, including loaders, forklifts, garbage trucks, street cleaners, pickups.
The five Lower Mainland cities -- the others are Vancouver, Burnaby, Delta and North Vancouver City -- are testing the viability of bio-fuels.
The fuel aims to make diesel more environmentally friendly by adding used cooking oil, animal fats and/or oils from grains such as canola and soybean.
The smell of french fries is a little added bonus for truck drivers used to inhaling toxic diesel fumes.
"The guys say it smells of french fries after it burns," says Fryer. "That's a lot better than diesel. All that rotten, gucky stuff is gone. "
Adds Delta fleet manager Curtis Rhodes: "The truck smells like a McDonald's kitchen. People chuckle about it because diesel fumes can be horrible. They'd sooner smell food. "
Ian Thomson of North Vancouver's Canadian Bio Fuels Corp. says it works because the diesel is a pressure-ignited machine designed to run on vegetable oil.
"Rudolf Diesel invented the engine 110 years ago to run on vegetable oil so farmers could be self-sufficient," he says. "It burns hotter than diesel and combusts more completely. "
The Enivronmental Protection Agency in the U. S. -- where bio-fuel is used in 300 fleets -- shows a 24-per-cent reduction in most harmful chemicals.
The B-20 fuel is mixed up in a ratio of 20 per cent bio and 80 per cent diesel.
In the Lower Mainland, tests are being carried out on two vehicles per municipality: dump trucks as well as heavier street cleaners.
The results will be scientifically measured for tailpipe emissions and presented as a report.
Problems preventing widespread adoption are availability and price. The bio-fuel has to be shipped from California, resulting in a cost up to 10 cents per litre more than diesel's 70 cents a litre.
But Thomson plans to produce bio-diesel locally, using a process in which the raw ingredient is treated with alcohol.
"We're trying to make it a viable business," he says.
Fryer says the saving in noxious chemicals from the city's 50 heavy trucks would be huge -- they burn 2. 3 million litres of diesel a year.
But he admitted the public has to buy into the higher costs associated with the project.
-- email address removed --
© The Vancouver Province 2004
Monday, February 09, 2004
Some drivers are feeling better about foul-smelling diesel trucks after toodling around in ones powered by french-fry grease.
The pilot project in five Lower Mainland cities takes recycled grease from fast-food restaurants and mixes it with diesel.
Its supporters, including City of Richmond vehicle fleet manager Ken Fryer, cite a study which found the fuel cuts harmful emissions by 24 per cent.
"Alternative fuels is who I am. We believe in this stuff," says Fryer, 49, who has dabbled in natural gas-powered cars and new combustion systems since his days as a college student in Ontario. "We want to do our part for the environment. "
Fryer manages a fleet of 500 vehicles, including loaders, forklifts, garbage trucks, street cleaners, pickups.
The five Lower Mainland cities -- the others are Vancouver, Burnaby, Delta and North Vancouver City -- are testing the viability of bio-fuels.
The fuel aims to make diesel more environmentally friendly by adding used cooking oil, animal fats and/or oils from grains such as canola and soybean.
The smell of french fries is a little added bonus for truck drivers used to inhaling toxic diesel fumes.
"The guys say it smells of french fries after it burns," says Fryer. "That's a lot better than diesel. All that rotten, gucky stuff is gone. "
Adds Delta fleet manager Curtis Rhodes: "The truck smells like a McDonald's kitchen. People chuckle about it because diesel fumes can be horrible. They'd sooner smell food. "
Ian Thomson of North Vancouver's Canadian Bio Fuels Corp. says it works because the diesel is a pressure-ignited machine designed to run on vegetable oil.
"Rudolf Diesel invented the engine 110 years ago to run on vegetable oil so farmers could be self-sufficient," he says. "It burns hotter than diesel and combusts more completely. "
The Enivronmental Protection Agency in the U. S. -- where bio-fuel is used in 300 fleets -- shows a 24-per-cent reduction in most harmful chemicals.
The B-20 fuel is mixed up in a ratio of 20 per cent bio and 80 per cent diesel.
In the Lower Mainland, tests are being carried out on two vehicles per municipality: dump trucks as well as heavier street cleaners.
The results will be scientifically measured for tailpipe emissions and presented as a report.
Problems preventing widespread adoption are availability and price. The bio-fuel has to be shipped from California, resulting in a cost up to 10 cents per litre more than diesel's 70 cents a litre.
But Thomson plans to produce bio-diesel locally, using a process in which the raw ingredient is treated with alcohol.
"We're trying to make it a viable business," he says.
Fryer says the saving in noxious chemicals from the city's 50 heavy trucks would be huge -- they burn 2. 3 million litres of diesel a year.
But he admitted the public has to buy into the higher costs associated with the project.
-- email address removed --
© The Vancouver Province 2004
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BURN THE BEAN!
