More Owen Sound city vehicles will soon be running on biofuels.
Operations Director John Johnston tells Bayshore Broadcasting News that a pilot project involving one city bus has proven to be a success.
Johnston says as a result, the trial is moving into phase two and nine city vehicles will be run on biodiesel.
Those nine vehicles include all five transit buses, the specialized bus, two garbage packers, and a recycling truck.
Johnston says the reason for the switch is environmental, not economical.
He says biodiesel is the same price as clear diesel right now and the only added cost of the project was the instalment of a tank at the city lot, since the vehicles do not have to be retrofitted to use biodiesel.
Johnston says the nine city vehicles will be run on a biodiesel blend for one year to track things like maintenance needs, fuel costs, and supply availability.
If everything goes well, Johnston says the entire city fleet of diesel vehicles – about another 10 large vehicles and some smaller pickups, as well as large machines like graders – will make the switch.
Johnston says that will greatly reduce the city’s impact on the environment.
Johnston says the idea came from the County, which used biodiesel successfully in a small trial before running into supply problems and ending the program.
He says the County has already contacted the city to ask about their Kitchener supplier and may get back on board with the idea if it is successful in Owen Sound.
Johnston was hoping to have the nine vehicles fill up with biodiesel today, but says it may not happen until next week.