City of Keene

In Keene, all 77 vehicles in the City Public Works Department run on biodiesel fuel supplied at the Department’s pump. This effort has prevented an estimated 12 tons of CO2 emissions since 2002 (City of Keene Planning Department).

The City has been working with Keene State College and Batchelder Biodiesel Refinery to create the Monadnock Biodiesel Collaborative (MBC), a 10,000 square foot showcase facility that will house a state of the art biofuel refinery.  To reduce vehicle emissions, the City has instituted an anti-idling campaign.  They have also installed a geothermal system at the Public Works Department and have purchased hybrid vehicles to replace conventional vehicles in the fleet.

For more info visit: http://www.ci.keene.nh.us/planning/climatekeene.htm

Keene Tries a Cleaner Diesel

By Carolyn Martin, NH Public Radio, Wednesday, August 7, 2002.

Some of the mowers and trucks around the Keene State College campus are running cleaner these days. That’s because they’re operating on soybeans, not regular diesel fuel. The new fuel, called biodiesel, is stirring up the senses on campus. Carolyn Martin of the Keene Sentinel has more.

SMELL 1: “What does it smell like to you? Burned popcorn. Everybody has a different opinion. ”

SMELL 2: “Umm.. it smells like a cross between chicken fingers and french fries.”

SMELL 3: “The smell is totally different. It just doesn’t smell toxic.”

The smell is just part of the attraction to the new fuel, called biodiesel. It’s made from vegetable oil or animal fats. It comes straight from the soybean and canola crops, or it can be from recycled restaurant grease.

(( nat sound..trash truck loading a dumpster ))

Six Keene State vehicles–mowers, tractors, and a trash truck–started running on the soybean oil in June.

Keene State is trying biodiesel because it’s less polluting than regular petroleum diesel. Gone is the black smoke, strong odor, and many of the air pollutants.

Compared to regular diesel, biodiesel emits less carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, sulfate, and small, soot-like particles.

Mary Jensen is on the college’s Council for a Sustainable Future. She suggested the College switch to biodiesel as a cleaner, alternative fuel.

JENSEN:”One of the things is to get the smell of diesel off the campus because we use these vehicles in a tight space. We will get calls from people who say I smell diesel coming in through the vents of this building or that building and they don’t like it and it’s not good for you.”

Keene State is the first college or university in New Hampshire to try biodiesel. Lead mechanic Mike Fuller says it was an easy decision. Nothing had to be modified–the vegetable oil runs in a regular diesel engine.

FULLER: “So far it’s worked out good. We haven’t had any real difficulties with it. Everything seems to be running good. it’s been an easy swap; just pour it in the tank and go with it.”

There are some drawbacks to biodiesel. It emits more nitrogen oxide, a smog-causing pollutant, than regular diesel. BUT The N.H. Sierra Club calls biodiesel a good first step.

Another downside: The pure vegetable oil freezes at higher temperatures than regular diesel fuel. This winter, Keene State will switch from 100 percent soybean oil to a biodiesel blend of 20 percent vegetable oil and 80 percent regular diesel.

Biodiesel also costs about 30 cents more per gallon than regular diesel. Keene State has help this year paying for the extra expense from the Governor’s Office of Energy and Community Services.

Bud Winsor, who manages the campus fleet, is already sold on the fuel. He has no qualms about adding the extra expense to his fuel budget next year.

WINSOR: “I believe if I went before the people to budget a little bit extra for diesel fuel and use biodiesel, they wouldn’t have a problem with that. It would be well worth it for us.”

Keene State joins a handful of other campuses using biodiesel. They include the Univ. of Mass. at Amherst, Univ. of Michigan and Ohio State Univ.

This article was taken from NHPR online.