Biodiesel extends the life of bus engines

A school district in Virginia has decided to switch their fleet of buses to biodiesel.

Two years ago Gloucester Co. decided to test alternative fuels on 20 of its school buses. Now all of its buses are running on biodiesel that’s made right outside Hampton Roads.

Biodiesel is petrodiesel mixed with soybean oil, and Head of Transportation for the Gloucester County School System Roger Kelly says bus drivers using it have noticed the difference.

“Some of our drivers have even commented that they see that the buses run smoother,” he said.

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Bio-diesel acts like a cleaning agent. For school buses, this means the fuel has the ability to clean mineral deposits from the fuel injectors, fuel tanks and fuel lines. In the long run, that means a bus can stay in service a lot longer before needing a new engine.

The good news is that it is cleaner. But like most biofuels, there is a cost to consider, namely what the source of the fuel is. As long as we're not taking crops out of the food chain, biodiesel is a great alternative. But we have to be careful that we're using sources of fuel that won't lead to food shortages sooner rather than later.

The National Technology Readiness Survey released today by the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business found that American consumers want to spend their money on green products. In it's survey, they found that 71 percent of adults are interested in green technology, but there is a large gap between the number of products consumers own now and the number they say they would like to own.

That's pretty awesome, if you stop and think about it. But what's even more awesome is that a little over half of that $104 billion comes from interest in consumers wanting to buy alternative fueled vehicles. The auto industry could stand to earn $54 billion dollars from people who want to buy hybrids, bio-fuel, electric, or flex-fuel cars.

It shouldn't amaze me, but I still find it hard to believe that consumers are so far ahead of the curve compared to Detroit when it comes to planet-friendlier cars. Toyota saw what was happening early on and came out with the Prius, but the folks in Detroit have continually tried to fight against even higher gas mileage standards, ignoring what market research has been showing them.

The good news is that it seems they're starting to listen, albeit they're mainly supporting ethanol vehicles. That would be fine if we were producing more ethanol from cellulosic feed stock rather than food sources.

We'll have to wait and see what happens in Detroit when it comes to green cars. There's the appearance that America's big three are moving in the right direction, but appearances can be deceiving.

Still, there are a lot of other green products out there that people can buy, and a lot of interest for buying them. Here's a few more interesting numbers from the report:

• 83 percent of adults want to preserve and protect the environment
• 42 percent of adults said products and services that help the environment are hard to find
• 59 percent of adults say they like trying new technologies that help the environment
• 56 percent of adults say gadgets designed to help the environment would be fun to own
• 68 percent of adults like to do business with companies that are environmentally responsible
• 72 percent of adults say they resent companies who say they care about the environment but are not sincere

You can find more information about the National Technology Readiness Survey at Rockbridge Research.