C-TRAN Fuel Facts

C-TRAN to use Renewable Energy Fuel Fleet-Wide

November 2006

C-TRAN announced that it will retrofit its entire fleet to allow the use of Ultra-Low Sulfur diesel fuel; reducing its CO² and SO² emissions by 90% fleet-wide by the end of 2007.

2007

In January, C-TRAN announced a demonstration project that that will allow the use of B100 biodiesel in one of its fleet buses; believing to make it the only transit agency on the West coast to do so. B100 is 100% renewable energy and 100% free of Carbon Dioxide (CO²) and Sulfur Dioxide (SO²) emissions. C-TRAN will expand its biodiesel program to run its entire fleet on B5, a 5% biodiesel blend.
C-TRAN will use a grant that will allow for retrofits of its exhaust systems; eliminating another 40%-50% of its remaining emissions.
C-TRAN will purchase 12, forty-foot electric hybrid vehicles, scheduled for delivery in the spring of 2008.

Biodiesel Facts

Biodiesel 101

Biodiesel is a fuel made from vegetable oil that runs in any unmodified diesel engine. Biodiesel can be made from any vegetable oil including oils pressed straight from the seed (virgin oils) such as soy, sunflower, canola, coconut and hemp. Biodiesel can also be made from recycled cooking oils from fast food restaurants. Even animal fats like beef tallow and fish oil can be used to make biodiesel fuel. While biodiesel may sound like something from the movie “Back to the Future,” its use dates back over 100 years to the invention of the diesel engine.

How Biodiesel Works

Biodiesel runs in any unmodified diesel engine. There is no “engine conversion” typical of other alternative fuels. The diesel engine can run on biodiesel because it operates on the principle of compression ignition whereby air is compressed and then fuel is sprayed into the ultra-hot, ultra-pressured combustion chamber. Unlike gasoline engines, which use a spark to ignite the fuel/air mixture, diesel engines actually use fuel to ignite hot air. This simple process allows the diesel engine to run on thick fuels. Since biodiesel is chemically similar to petroleum diesel fuel, you can pour biodiesel right into the fuel tank of any diesel vehicle. Biodiesel has many advantages as a transport fuel. Biodiesel has lower emissions, it is made domestically (which increases national security), it does not affect engine performance and biodiesel is produced from plants. Since plants are a product of solar energy, biodiesel is “liquid solar fuel.”

Biodiesel’s Effects on Emissions

Overall biodiesel emissions are lower than gasoline or diesel fuel emissions (with the exception of NOx). Compared to diesel, biodiesel produces no sulfur, no net carbon dioxide, up to 20 times less carbon monoxide and more free oxygen. Biodiesel has the following emissions characteristics when compared with petroleum diesel fuel:

Reduction of carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) by 100%
Reduction of sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions by 100%
Reduction of soot emissions by 40-60%
Reduction of carbon monoxide (CO) emissions by 10-50%
Reduction of hydrocarbon (HC) emissions by 10-50%

BiodieselAmerica.org